


Mortality & Immortality

by Minimewtwo



Category: Hercules (1997)
Genre: Angst, Depression, Hades Has Issues, Hades and the Imps are overworked and underpaid, Hera's pissed at Zeus...again, Hera's plotting something, Hermes gets annoyed, Hermes needs a vacation, Hermes tries to help, I'm sure Charon sometimes throws souls overboard when he's annoyed or overworked, Ichor/Blood, Isolation, Lonely Hades, Mortal souls like to gossip, Non-Graphic Violence, Pain and Panic are more observant than they appear, Pain and Panic have a good idea for once, Panic Attack, Poseidon is caught in the middle, Suicide Attempt, The epidemic is over in this story...I swear, The other gods are becoming scared of Zeus, Zeus does something unforgivable... again, Zeus is oblivious, and he loves both his brothers, and it's all because of Hades' lack of self care, and so do the living ones
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:33:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 33,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28927362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minimewtwo/pseuds/Minimewtwo
Summary: After trying to take over Olympus things get worse for Hades. Can anything change the Lord of the Underworld's lonely fate, or will he submit to despair.
Comments: 44
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> While doing some spring cleaning I found this old fic.  
> Judging from the Spelling, Grammar and Canonical mistakes I was most likely 9 or 10 at the time, but the plot outline was interesting so I've decided to revive and finish it  
> I'll Add tags as I go.  
> Also I don't think I've posted it anywhere else.
> 
> Enjoy, or not; whatever works for you. *shrugs*
> 
> P.S. A Chiton is the grey undershirt/tunic thing that Hades wears under his black toga.

* * *

_The souls surrounded him, grasping at him, clinging to his clothing; dragging him deeper into the swirling vortex. Their moaning and keening merging into a single piercing sound causing his head to feel as if it were about to split in two._

_They siphoned his energy, draining him of his magic in hopes they'd be able to use it to escape the from the Underworld. He desperately fought against his growing weakness and the clinging souls, trying to break free and reach the surface only to slowly sink further into the depths with each passing second._

_He couldn't see the surface now, there were too many souls surrounding him and he let out a muffled cry of rage and despair; still struggling futilely despite his waning strength and the growing darkness..._

* * *

Pain and Panic stood next to their Master's bed, worry etched into their faces as they watched him writhe weakly in his sleep; still trying to fight his way free of the vortex of souls he'd been trapped in until a short while ago. Guiltily they wrung their tails while the events of the past two weeks played through their minds.

* * *

_Knowing the furious mood their Master would be in once he freed himself of the vortex the two had fled. For two weeks they had ignored his raging, cursing and cries of despair as he fought to free himself, the shouts steadily growing quieter; then... silence._

_The sudden silence had terrified the two imps even more than the raging had, so they had cautiously approached the vortex room to investigate, they couldn't see him anywhere in the room so carefully leaned over the cliff's edge; but there was no sign of the god within the vortex of green._

_Quickly Pain & Panic searched for a few furies that were in service to Hades, and using what little authority they had, ordered the immortal beings to search the vortex for their master._  
  
_Reluctantly the furies dove into the swirling mass of souls, diving deeper and deeper until they spotted a dark solid shape ahead of them._  
_Swimming closer the two furies found an unconscious Hades, souls still clinging tightly to him; siphoning what little magic they could. The two furies dislodged the clinging souls, and after each taking hold of Hades' lifeless body swam quickly towards the surface, upon emerging from the depths they spread their wings taking flight; leaving the moaning desperate souls beneath them. The furies landed gracefully on top of the cliff and dropped Hades non too gently on the ground before stalking off; glaring at the two imps for ruining their Hades free holiday._

_Pain and Panic then carried Hades as carefully as they could to his rarely used chambers. There they cleaned him up the best they could and dressed him in a clean chiton, finally putting him to bed; a soft grey blanket covering him._  
_For a few hours Hades laid motionless on his bed before becoming semi-conscious for a few moments, then drifting off into a deep healing sleep..._

* * *

Now his sleep was disturbed, the Lord of the Underworld struggling to shrug of his recent ordeal; his two pacing minions too afraid to try and wake him.  
Pain and Panic had stayed by his side the entire time, not once daring to leave in case Hades should wake and need them; but this was becoming increasingly difficult as Pain's stomach began to growl.  
"Panic, I'm hungry. We should take a break and grab a quick bite." Pain said to his thin turquoise friend. Panic sighed a little in annoyance, too nervous to really feel hungry but nodded in agreement; a quick break might help calm his nerves.  
"Okay. but just a quick one, the boss could wake any minute and might need us." He replied before following Pain out of the room and down the hall.

* * *

The two imps made it as far as the throne room before Hermes appeared, flying in through the hole left behind from Cerberus and Hercules. "Hey Boys, where's the big guy at? I got a message for him." The upbeat messenger god greeted holding up a scroll. The two imps shared an uncertain look before Panic spoke, Pain following his lead.  
  
"Uh... Hades... isn't available right now..." Panic started before trailing off.  
"Uh, yeah. So... you can just leave that message with us. We'll make sure he gets it." Pain finished as Hermes studied each of the imps suspiciously.  
"Okay guys, where is he? Cause I can tell ya, Zeus isn't in the mood to wait long for a reply; I'm surprised we got him to wait as long as he did to send the message in the first place. Hera had a hard time getting him to simmer down if you know what I mean." Explained Hermes, grip not loosening on the scroll.  
"Yeah, we could hear the thunder from down here." Pain blurted out without thinking.  
"Sooo... Where is he?" Prompted Hermes after a few moments of awkward silence.

Pain shrugged at Panic who frantically tried to think of an answer, unable to come up with anything he blurted out.  
"He... he's resting... a a and is not to be disturbed." Pain nodded in agreement with his brother's answer.  
"He's sleeping? C'mon guys, I've got to have a better reason for the delay for Zeus than that. If I told Zeus that he'd be down here himself in a flash, and trust me, you don't want that happening. So just lead me to H man and I'll take full responsibility for disturbing his beauty sleep, okay?" Hermes reasoned, trying to convince the skittish imps; both of which were wringing their tails absent-mindedly.

They shared an uncertain look, Pain shrugging at Panic who just shook his head in answer; both out of ideas for stalling the god calmly floating above them.  
They both nodded in response, turning to slowly lead Hermes to Hades' chambers; silently hoping their master would be both awake and lucid.

* * *

Hermes patiently followed the two imps to Hades' chambers, and through the door leading into Hades' bedroom.  
Both imps startled at the sound of Hermes dropping his scroll in surprise at seeing the Lord of the Underworld in such a weak state.  
With the god distracted Pain took the opportunity to snatch the scroll up before Hermes noticed, moving quickly to take his place next to Panic at their master's side.

"What happened to him?" Hermes asked as he floated nearer to the weakly writhing god.  
"He got trapped in the vortex of souls for the last two weeks." Panic answered quickly.  
"That can't be it, just that shouldn't have weakened a god of Hades' strength this badly." Hermes replied quickly, worry clear in his voice.  
"He has used quite a bit of power recently..." Pain said absently as he began to unroll the scroll to read.  
"He has?" Hermes replied, not once glancing away from Hades; even drifting a little closer to him.  
"Yeah I suppose he has, um let's see... there was granting boons to the monsters that joined his side for the uprising, restoring the Hydra's strength so it could fight Hercules, oohhh freeing the Titans took a lot out of him and then there was the meltdown he had after the uprising failed, as well as a few before the uprising; all while also maintaining the Underworld..." Panic listed thoughtfully, their master really did stretch himself too thinly sometimes; he may be an immortal god but that didn't mean he couldn't exhaust himself.

Hermes nodded absent-mindedly as the imp spoke, he cocked his head considering Hades' disturbed sleep. Dreams and sleep weren't his department, but maybe as a god of crossroads he could guide Hades towards a more restful sleep; it was worth a try.

Pain paled at the message written in the scroll, sharply poking at Panic to gain his attention; passing the scroll to him once he had.  
Panic quickly read the message before he too paled, dropping the scroll frozen as it clattered to the floor. Hermes turned sharply at the sound, looking between the scroll and the two stricken imps with pity.  
"Uh... Sorry guys, I gotta go. A messenger's work is never done and all that, ya' know... I really am sorry..." The messenger god said uncomfortably, the two imps staring blankly at him in reply. Hermes gave them a small wave before quickly vacating the room, palace and Underworld; while trying to come up with something that would buy the imps and Hades some time, before Zeus' wrath came down upon them.

  
Pain picked up the scroll and passed it back to Panic who rolled it up with trembling hands, unable to meet his brother's gaze. Pain broke the silence first.  
"So what'a we gonna do now?" He asked.  
"The only thing we can do... wait." He replied just as unsure as Pain.  
"I mean what are we gonna do about that scroll?" Pain asked again.  
"Well we can't hide it, it'd probably make things worse." Panic replied nervously.  
"Yeah but won't that make him worse?" Pain asked glancing worriedly up at Hades who had finally stopped writhing.  
"We'll have to take that chance." Panic stated simply as he settled down on the ground to wait for Hades to wake. Pain sighed still hungry, but sat down next to his high-strung brother; prepared for a possibly long wait.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter is up so quickly cause it was already half written in the original draft, and I was working on it while still debating on whether to post the first chapter or wait until I have more written.
> 
> So I can't guarantee an update schedule sorry.  
> But hey this chapter is almost twice the length of the first.
> 
> As always enjoy, or not; whatever works for you. *Shrugs*

* * *

A groan stirred the two imps into awareness having fallen asleep while sitting on the cold stone floor. They scrambled to their feet and stood to attention; a second groan signaling Hades' return to consciousness.

Pushing himself into a sitting position he used one hand to steady himself, the other resting over his face as he tried to shake the grogginess off.  
A few moments passed and Hades finally noticed the too imps presence at his side, he turned to acknowledge them voice raspy; still thick with exhaustion.  
"How long was I out for?" He asked while rubbing the back of his neck. The two imps standing to attention shared a quick glance before Pain answered him.  
"Only a few hours your flamableness." He answered quickly.  
"How're you felling boss?" Panic chipped in, nervously waiting for Hades to begin to rage.  
The god merely grunted in response, shaking his head as if trying to clear it.  
"Anything happen while I was out?" He asked, choosing to ignore Panic's question.  
Pain was quick to answer their master.  
"Nope. Just the usual." He stated with a shrug. Hades raised an eyebrow, looking at Panic before bluntly asking.  
"Then what's that scroll Panic's holding?" He asked. Panic squirming under his master's stare.  
"I it arrived from Olympus a short while ago." Panic explained; stretching the truth a little. He held it out for Hades to take, and had to count his fingers after it was snatched from his hand so fast he was sure he'd lost some.  
Hades frantically read the scroll, what little colour he'd managed to regain from his rest quickly disappearing.  
  


_'Hades, you are hereby summoned to Mt Olympus to face judgement for your recent crimes._   
_After judgement has been passed the appropriate punishment shall be handed down._   
_Zeus'  
  
_

Hades sighed, the imps watching him with worry at hearing such a foreign sound come from him.  
"Well boy, looks like there no fast talking my way outta this one." Hades said trying to sound unconcerned. The two imps may have believed the act, if it weren't for the god's slightly trembling hands.  
"What do you thinks gonna happen boss?" Asked Pain as he was passed the scroll.  
While Hades stood still with a frown of deep thought on his face; Panic rushed to fetch his master's toga.   
"I'm not sure... I may get thrown in the Titan's old cell or... even thrown into the deepest pit of Tatarus with Cronus..." Hades answered with a shudder at the thought, really not wanting to be swallowed by that mad titan again.  
"Best case scenario, I just get exiled from Olympus... but who knows what my baby brother Zeus has planned." Continued Hades as he put his toga on over his chiton, leaving his chambers. Pain and Panic fidgeted nervously, worry etched plainly on their faces as they followed him.  
  


* * *

  
Slowly Hades made his way to the throne room, still a little unsteady on his feet; his strength still nowhere near to being fully replenished. He stopped in the middle of the half demolished room, it was obvious no one had made any attempt at cleaning it up after his last violent outburst. Hades sighed in frustration, and slumped onto his throne; not having the energy to spare to attempt to fix the room or even to remove the rubble, it would just have to stay the way it was for now. He sat silently on the throne for a while, elbow on the armrest, head in hand; trying to think of a way out of his current predicament.  
Pain and Panic stood in front of the throne, tails in hand; wringing them nervously.

Finally Hades stood, and addressed the imps; possibly for the last time.  
"I want you two to stay here and lay low. I'm not sure what's about to happen, but I may need you. So keep your ears open, I'll call your names if I do; be ready." He instructed, the two imps nodding in understanding.

Now how would he get there, getting the chariot ready would take too long and he didn't have enough energy to transfer himself from here; Hades paced as he thought.  
Charon, yes he'd take Charon's boat to the entrance of the underworld; once outside he should have enough energy to transport himself from there.  
Nodding to himself Hades slowly made his way to the dock beneath his palace, Pain and Panic following closely behind. 

Charon somehow knew his master had need of him and was waiting below, his boat ready to ferry the God to the entrance of his domain.  
The two imps stopped at the edge of the dock watching.   
Hades boarded the boat before motioning for Charon to go ahead, he ignored the two silent imps; too focused on what may lie in wait for him upon Mt Olympus.  
"Think he's gonna be okay?" Panic asked his brother.  
"I sure hope so." Pain replied as they both stood watching the slowly retreating boat.  
  


* * *

Hades disembarked from the boat giving Charon a small nod of acknowledgement, the ferryman bowing low in response.  
Slowly he made his way up the many stairs leading to the two large doors sealing off the underworld from the Mortal realm, he paused at the top of the stairs; resting a moment.  
Then with hardly any effort Hades easily pushed one of the double doors open, leaving the comfortable gloom of the underworld for the harsh light of the mortal world.  
The heavy door shut behind the god as he stood still for a moment, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the harsh sunlight; he'd expected thunder clouds to have been darkening the sky with Zeus' rage.

Looking up at Mt Olympus Hades tried to decide the best place to transport himself to, finally settling on transporting himself just outside the gates.   
It would give him a chance to breathe before being most likely mobbed by angry Olympians.

With a puff of smoke he disappeared from the gates of the underworld only to reappear again in front of the gates of Olympus. The move still draining him far more than he would have liked, causing him to have to lean against the gates for a few minutes until the world stopped moving.

  
Once steady on his feet again Hades slowly, and with as much dignity as he could muster in his weakened state walked through the gates; his destination the hall where they usually held council.  
Only a few steps into Olympus and Hades was quickly flanked by Ares & Apollo, the brothers obviously sent to make sure he didn't make any trouble or try to escape before he made it to Zeus.   
Hades chuckled to himself, causing the two younger gods to tense up in response; they didn't know he barely had the energy to stand, let alone start a fight.  
"Relax boys. I come in peace... this time." Hades teased the two younger gods, smirking at their angry expressions. "What? Too soon?" Hades asked with a toothy grin.  
"Just keep moving Hades. Zeus will soon deal with you." Ares snapped, causing a brief expression of uncertainty from the elder god. Hades quickly schooled his face back to one of neutrality, he couldn't afford to show weakness right now.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the council hall much to Hades' relief, he was beginning to have trouble catching his breath. _  
'Funny how we gods still breathe like mortals despite not needing to.'_ Hades thought to himself, his unsteady breathing catching the attention of the two younger gods flanking him. They watched him suspiciously, thinking Hades was trying to get them to lower their guard.  
"No tricks Hades." Apollo warned sternly, Ares grunting in agreement.  
Hades chose to ignore them, instead focusing on steadying his breathing before they finally reached Zeus' throne; he refused to show weakness in front of his youngest brother.

Zeus lounged on his throne glaring as Hades approached, his two guards had stopped a few paces behind him; near enough to still be able to leap at Hades should they need to.   
A faint rumble of thunder sounded in the distance as Hades stopped in front of Zeus.  
"Hades." Rumbled Zeus. "I trust you are aware of why you have been summoned." It was less a question and more of a statement, one that Hades didn't feel the need to respond to; settling on a heated glare as answer enough.  
Another rumble of thunder, this time closer; was the only evidence that Zeus was displeased with Hades' silence.  
"The evidence of your heinous crimes is undeniable, as is the fact that every Olympian here can testify as an eye witness to your failed coup. Regardless, it's only fair you get to speak in your own defense; as I highly doubt anyone else will speak for you." Zeus stated motioning that Hades was free to speak.  
"And what exactly do you expect me to say?" Hades replied coolly, he knew there was no way out of this; so there was no point in trying to defend himself, especially when he was guilty.  
Another rumble of thunder, louder, closer. A sure sign Zeus was loosing his patience.  
"Perhaps you will tell us why. Why you thought it was a good idea to kidnap and turn my son mortal. Why you thought it was a good idea to release the Titans. And why you thought it was a good idea to attack your own family." He prompted Hades, all but demanding an explanation.  
"I was bored." Dead-panned Hades in response.  
"HADES!" Zeus bellowed, thunder exploding around them; a bolt of lightning striking the clouds right beside Hades' feet, causing him to unconsciously flinch.  
Hades glare turned murderous at the near miss, his flames and face turning red; it was his turn to explode with anger.   
"What do you want me to say!? If you haven't figured it out by now, then why in Tartarus should I spoon feed you the answer!" He raged at his younger brother before the world suddenly shifted.  
 _'Crap, I shouldn't have done that'_ Hades thought to himself as he stumbled backwards in an attempt to keep his balance.  
Apollo and Ares who had both rushed forward to grab the raging god were surprised when instead they had to catch him, keeping the elder from falling flat on his back.  
"Get off of me." Hades grouched wearily, shaking the two off of him. I was only then that the other gods present finally began to take notice of Hades' current condition.   
His paler than normal complexion, sweat beading at his brow, unsteady breathing and the way he slightly swayed as if struggling to stay standing after his outburst; the elder god truly looked terrible. Whispers and muttering broke out around the hall as all the gods present began gossiping amongst themselves, even Zeus cooled off long enough to study his brother's appearance.  
"Hades, what has happened to you..." Zeus said so softly that Hades wasn't sure the other had meant to say that aloud.  
"None of your business." He snarled, feeling particularly uncooperative at that moment; trying to pull the others focus away from his weakened state of being.  
It seemed to work, Zeus' eyes hardening once again.  
"If you have nothing to say in your defense Hades then fine. I must warn you however that I have spoken to a number of our family members and most agree, you are a bad influence for our younger generation of gods; and we can not allow you to corrupt them." Zeus stated, peaking Hades' interest in where this was going.  
 _'Hey maybe he is only going to banish me from Olympus.'_ He thought to himself.  
Zeus continued. "I hereby sentence you to solitary confinement within the Underworld..."  
 _'What?'_ Hades stomach dropped as Zeus continued, his breath beginning to quicken.  
"You shall not be permitted to leave the Underworld, nor shall any other god be permitted access; only the souls of the mortals shall be granted entry. I shall put a barrier in place to ensure this." Zeus explained emotionlessly.  
"You you can't do that!" Hades cried out, his panic rising. This isn't what he wanted, not what he wanted at all; to be isolated further was possibly even worse than being swallowed by Cronus again.  
"I can and am." Zeus replied simply.  
"What about Thanatos and Hermes? Both guide souls to the Underworld. How can they do their jobs if they can't get in and out?" Demanded Hades, trying to find some way out of this nightmare punishment.  
"Uh, Zeus, babe. Um, he's right. It's not like I can just drop the souls off at the door and hope they make it to the right place." Hermes nervously spoke up.  
" _*sigh*_ Very well, I shall grant access to Hermes and Thanatos; but no other. And they shall not be permitted contact with you Hades. They will conduct their duties and guide the mortals souls. And THAT is it! No visits, no chats, no fraternizing. Be thankful for the mercy I have shown you today." Zeus relented but not without conditions. Hermes giving Hades an apologetic glance, hoping to have given the lonely god at least a little companionship until Zeus decided Hades had learned his lesson; freeing him once more.  
"So that's it? You're just going to throw me away. Seal me in a gilded cage and call it mercy. You son of a bitch! You never learn do you brat! You can't just seal me away, ignore the problem and hope it will fix it's self! You **WILL** regret this Zeus!" Hades raged once more despite his waning strength, taking a step closer to his younger brother with each bitter word. Ares and Apollo began to rush forward again but before they could reach the dark god Zeus exploded with rage again.  
" **HADES THAT IS ENOUGH!** " He roared, lashing out with a backhand to Hades' face. The force of the blow threw the weakened god backwards into Ares and Apollo, launching the three of them into the crowd of spectators.  
  


Stunned silence fell over the hall, even Zeus was too stunned to speak. He'd never expected to be able to overpower his elder brother so easily.  
On the other side of the hall various gods disentangled them from the pile of bodies created when Hades, Ares and Apollo had landed. Eventually the only one remaining on the ground was Hades, flat on his back stunned.  
Slowly he rose up onto one elbow with much difficulty, with more difficulty than it should be for any god. He kept the eye on the struck side of his face closed, it hurt less that way; a dark bruise already forming on his cheek to go with his now split lip. He stared blankly at Zeus, ignoring offers of help from a few of the other gods present.

Zeus stood still, silent. Unable to believe he had just struck his already weakened brother.  
He could see that something was wrong with the dark god, everyone present could; and Zeus silently debated if he should investigate further into his brother's weakened state.  
Before he could make up his mind he watched as Hades struggled to his feet, never once breaking eye contact with him.  
Zeus sighed wearily. "Ares, Apollo, escort Hades back to the underworld. I'll activate the barrier once he is back within his realm." He quietly commanded, wearily draping himself over his throne once more; desperately trying to avoid his brother's glare.

Apollo tried to steady the elder god, only for Hades to shrug him off snarling at the younger's attempt to help him. They slowly walked towards the chariots, one Apollo's the other Ares'.  
Ares motioned Hades to board his chariot, as he knew his brother was still wary about having Hades any where near his own; especially after that particular incident.  
Silently, defeated, Hades boarded the chariot; and kept a firm grip on the railing as they rose into the air, quickly flying towards the entrance to the Underworld, Apollo following close behind.  
  


* * *

They landed a few minutes later, the three gods disembarking in front of the double doors leading to the Underworld. Ares and Apollo walked forward, each opening a door, holding it open revealing the gloom beyond.  
They waited, watching Hades who had remained silent since being struck by Zeus.  
Slowly he began to walk forwards, crossing the threshold of his domain, ignoring the piercing stares of the other two gods.  
The imposing doors closed behind him, the beam of light that passed between them shrinking until finally disappearing as the doors closed with a deafening thud.

Hades was alone in the dark of the entrance to the Underworld, hands fisted so tightly his nails bit into his skin. Suddenly a brief flash of light lit the entrance way as electricity danced across the doors, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.  
Hades rushed to the doors and tried to open them straining to force them open, a strong electrical shock his only reward; the doors remaining stubbornly shut for him.  
He let our a roar of rage and despair, slamming his fists upon the doors before sinking to his knees.

Outside the two younger gods had been about to leave when the sudden roar and sound of slamming fists on the doors startled them. They spun around expecting Hades to burst through the doors...  
After a few moments of silence passed they left the elder god to his rage or grief, the two gods unsure of his mood.  
The chariots flew back to Mt Olympus side by side, their riders silent and grim.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this, another chapter?  
> yes, yes it is.
> 
> So I've been making pretty good progress on the fic, most likely because I had it planned out from start to finish before I started typing it up. I know where I'm at, I know where I'm going; I just don't know how many chapters it's gonna take.  
> I don't want to rush the story as I've seen way too many good stories, shows and movies get screwed over by pacing issues.
> 
> Now just a couple of clarification notes:
> 
> 1\. Parchment-work = paperwork.  
> Why? Because I'm positive paper hadn't yet been invented, especially as we see Herc signing autographs on stone tablets.
> 
> 2\. A Punt is the long pole we see Charon using in the movie to move his boat along the river, I know in some of the mythology he's said to use an Oar but he's using what looks like a punt to me in the movie; so I've got him using a punt.
> 
> 3\. Amphigeneia is a real abandoned Ancient Greek City, I couldn't find out why it was abandoned so I just decided to use it for my purposes of needing a large settlement not connected with in-movie Hercules to use for a deadly epidemic.
> 
> 4\. After a LOT of research I can come to the conclusion that the Greek gods confuse me. Especially when trying to figure out whos what relation to who. Like Dionysus the god of wine is Zeus' son, or how in some myths the three Fate sisters are born of the primordial goddess Nyx and in others they're said to be daughters of Zeus. Confusing.  
> Maybe Zeus adopted them or something... *shrugs*
> 
> Anyway as usual enjoy, or not; whatever works for you.

* * *

Hades still on his knees, fists resting against the doors fumed silently; a far cry from his usual loud raging.  
He felt drained, weak; unable to believe that Zeus thought he could fix things by simply locking him away in the dark. _  
'Huh, what's that thing mortals say? Out of sight out of mind?'_ Hades thought to himself bitterly, slowly rising to his feet once more.  
"You may think you've won Zeus, but all you've done is give me plenty of time and privacy to plot your downfall. Just you wait and see Bolt Boy, when I get out of here you'll regret showing _**mercy**_." Hades declared to the darkness. The final word said with as much venom as he could muster.  
Slowly Hades began the long trek down to the dock where he hoped Charon would be waiting, he really didn't have the spare energy to transport himself home.

Charon was indeed at the dock, busy dealing with a larger than normal number of souls wanting safe passage across the river. They wailed and waved obols in the air trying to gain his attention, unable to understand why the ferryman continued to ignore them.  
Suddenly the reason became clear, from out of the shadows stepped the Lord of the Underworld; Hades.

Charon used his punt to force the souls back, making way for his master. He bowed low once his task was complete. The souls of the mortals doing the same, but out of fear and not reverence like Charon.  
Hades stalked past the souls without so much as a glance in their direction, trying to hide his bruised and swollen cheek from them.  
He boarded Charon's boat, giving him a small nod as permission to shove off from the dock, the boat gracefully gliding down to river to it's destination; the silent boatman the perfect companion in Hades opinion.

The sound of Cerberus barking caught Hades' attention, Charon slowing the boat down just enough for Hades to be able to reach out and gently pat the nose of each of the giant dog's three heads. Cerberus whining with worry at his master's condition.  
"I'm alright boy, go back to your patrol." Hades dismissed the dog with a fondness very few have the chance to see. Charon sped the boat back up to it's normal pace continuing on to their destination without any further delays.  
  


* * *

At the dock underneath the palace Pain and Panic were trying to corral the excess number of souls into an orderly line, to await processing at the hands of their master.  
At the sound of Charon's boat approaching Pain spun around and began to snap at Charon and his passenger without checking who it was with the boatman.   
"Oh no you don't, there's no more room! So you can just go back to the other-side of the Styx and waiii...t..." Pain trailed off when he realized who was standing in the boat.   
"Oh no... Boss I swear if I knew it was you, I would've never..." Pain was cut off by Hades.  
"Quiet! I'm not in the mood. Where's Panic?"  
"Yes Sir. Panic's over.... uhhh, well... he was over there." Pain answered pointing over towards the steps.  
"Panic!" Hades shouted impatiently.  
"Uh Yes Sir! I'm right here Sir!" Panic cried out jumping up and down so the others could see him over the mass of souls, frantically scurrying through the crowd to reach his master; forgetting in his panic that he could just fly over them.  
"Pain and Panic reporting for duty." The two imps saluted as they stood to attention in front of their master.  
"Fine, fine, fine boys. Now tell me what in Tartarus is happening here?" Hades replied as he gazed about the barely controlled chaos surrounding him.  
"Oh well you see... uh Boss, what happened to your face?" Pain asked as both imps found themselves unable to look away from their master's injured face.  
Hades' flames and face briefly flashed red causing the two imps to cower.  
"Gnnng!" Hades could barely contain his temper, but after much effort he managed to cool himself down without exploding; knowing he couldn't spare the energy.  
"That's nothing you need to concern yourselves with." He replied with barely contained rage.  
"Di did Zeus do that? W was that your punishment?" Panic blurted out before he could stop himself. There was no containing it now.  
**"YES HE DID! AND NO IT WASN'T! NOW YOU TWO BETTER EXPLAIN WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND HERE OR CERBERUS IS GETTING TWO NEW CHEW TOYS!!!"** He roared in an explosion of red hot flames.  
Pain and Panic cowered before Hades, begging for forgiveness; as did the mortal souls who had no idea what was going on. 

Hades panted in exhaustion, the world suddenly moving, loosing his balance he stumbled backwards.   
A hand suddenly on his shoulder steadied him, Hades quickly looked over his shoulder to find Charon. The boatman made no sound and kept his eyes downcast as he continued to steady the god.

Hades gave Charon's hand a brief pat, signaling he was no longer in need of the support; the boatman instantly removing the limb from his master's person.  
With a deep breath Hades addressed the two imps once more, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration as he did.  
"Now, will someone tell me what is going on."  
The two imps stood back up, Pain the first to answer.  
"It's an epidemic, it's centred in some city in the south part of Greece..."  
"Ye yeah, the city of Amphigeneia. It's a pretty nasty bug, large mortality rate, highly infectious." Panic finished for his brother  
" _*sigh*_ Great, just great. That's all I need right now... _*sigh*_ Alright, start sending them up to the office; I'll deal with them one by one in order of arrival." Hades commanded wearily. He had really just wanted to shut himself away in his chambers for a few hours of much needed rest, maybe with a glass of Ambrosia or two; but there was no chance of that now.  
Slowly he trudged his way up the stone staircase leading the souls towards his office so he could process them, he was sure at least a few would need to be sent to Tartarus.  
  


* * *

All was not well on Olympus either, Hera had just returned from her visit with Hercules, Megara and his foster parents; only to find Zeus had gone behind her back, again.  
"You did what!?" She yelled at Zeus.  
"I dealt with Hades' punishment." Zeus repeated.  
"You told me you would wait until I returned from earth before you'd call Hades to Olympus, so that the six of us could sit down together to discuss what happened." Hera admonished her husband furiously.  
"Well... I couldn't wait. I can't just have every God and Goddess thinking they can challenge my authority without any consequences, now can I? What sort of example would that set for the younger generation?" Zeus tried to explain.  
"That is not the issue here Zeus. You promised that the six of us would all sit down and calmly discuss the recent events with Hades. There has to be a reason for why he did what he did. You need to speak with your brothers more and actually listen to them." Hera snapped back, refusing to budge an inch on this issue.  
"I asked him why, and all he said was that he did it because he was bored." Whined Zeus knowing he was loosing this battle.  
"And you believed that? Do you truly believe that your elder brother would do such things just because he was bored?" Hera asked, unable to believe what she was hearing.  
"Uhhm... yes?" Zeus replied simply.   
Hera scowled at him, disappointed with how incredibly dense her husband was. She just hoped Hercules hadn't inherited his father's thick head.  
"And what punishment did you mete out for Hades." She asked in frustration, hoping against all odds Zeus hadn't done anything too foolish.  
"He's confined to the Underworld and no one is to have any contact with him, that way his bad influence can't spread." Zeus proclaimed proudly. Hera gasped in shock before shouting at her husband once more.  
"Zeus how could you!?"  
"I, I don't understand. What's wrong with that?" Zeus asked bemused.  
"How could you isolate your brother even further than he was before? This will only cause things to worsen, I wouldn't be surprised if he's plotting another uprising as we speak." Hera scolded her confused husband.  
"But that's the point of confining him to the Underworld. Cutting him off from his allies, and preventing him from organizing another revolt." Zeus tried to explain futilely.  
"And cutting him off from any sort of help or support." Hera snapped back.  
"I don't understand, isn't that what I just said?" Zeus replied, scratching his head in confusion.  
"No Zeus, it is not the same. What you are saying is that you wanted to cut him off from any allies that would help him in attempting to overthrow you. And what I am saying is that you have also cut Hades off from his family and friends, who could help and support him as we try to sort out what the root issue is that caused his rebellion in the first place!" Hera snapped at the bemused Zeus, her husband holding his hands in front of himself as a sign of surrender. She glared at a silent Zeus, suspicious at the way he was now trying to avoid eye contact.   
"There's something else, something you're not telling me." Hera prompted.  
"Oh, not really love. Though something may have been wrong with Hades, he was weaker than he should have been." Zeus replied still not making eye contact. Hera narrowed her eyes, there was something else and Zeus was going to tell her.  
"That is concerning, but I can tell you're still not telling me everything. Zeus, you tell me right this instant or I'll go ask every god and goddess on Olympus until I find out what it is." Hera demanded, dead serious with her threat. Zeus scratched the back of his neck nervously as he answered.  
"Um, well, I may have struck Hades and sent him flying into a group of spectators." Zeus waited for Hera to explode, a fiery temper was something the six siblings shared.  
"You did what!?" Hera exclaimed. "How could you strike your brother, especially when you just told me you knew there was something wrong with him; and he was weakened!"  
"I don't know, he made me lose my temper." Zeus stated truthfully. Hera unimpressed with his answer.  
"I swear, you three brothers are as bad as each other sometimes. And I hope you don't expect to be sleeping here tonight Zeus. I have no interest in seeing you right now." Hera stalked off, Zeus trying to follow pleading with her.  
"Aww come on now Hera, aren't you being a little drastic." A wall of clouds suddenly blocking his way into their bedroom was all the answer he got from his wife.

Zeus rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, staring at the wall of clouds separating him from his wife for a few minutes; then he wandered off to find someone to put him up for the night.   
Maybe his other brother Poseidon, or his son Dionysus; yes that sounded good, Dionysus always had the best Nectar.  
  


* * *

Hunched over his desk in his office Hades angrily muttered to himself while processing each soul, the line of souls never seeming to end or get any shorter.  
"Just you wait Zeus, you'll get what's coming to you. When I get out of here... GRAH!" Roared Hades in frustration as he found himself reading the same line on the mortal's parchment-work for a third time in a row. His concentration was slipping as he grew restless, unconsciously bouncing one of his legs up and down.  
The mortal he was supposed to be judging backed up into a corner with fear, if it wasn't for the fact he was already dead he was sure the stress of being near the raging god would've killed him by now.  
"You." Hades snapped at the cowering mortal. "Take this, go down that corridor and hand it to the first being you see, they'll tell you where to go from there." Hades explained handing a slip of parchment to the quivering soul, the mortal quickly dashing through the indicated doorway without so much as a by your leave. 

Hades sighed, leaning backwards in his chair; massaging his temples. Panic scuttled into the room, leading another nervous soul to stand in front of the exhausted god.  
"How many more?" Asked Hades without even looking at the imp.  
"Uh, well... It's kinda hard to say with any certainty..." Panic anxiously answered.  
Hades glared over at the imp as he opened up the latest mortals parchment-work.  
"Why? Have the two of you forgotten how to count, again?" He growled out impatiently.  
"Oh no sir, but Charon keeps bringing more souls. We think some of the mortals may have spread the virus to some nearby settlements." The small imp replied as he slowly inched closer to the doorway, ready to dash out of the room if he needed to.  
"Oy Vey. Don't these mortals know how to stay in one place? I'd probably be done by now if they weren't stupid enough to keep travelling around spreading this thing. I mean what is this virus anyway? Do we even have a name for it yet?" Hades groused, wanting nothing more at that moment than to take a long nap.  
"No we don't know what it is, for that we'd have to ask Asclepius, and well..." Panic trailed off, hiding behind the door frame.  
"And right now that isn't an option. So we don't know what it is, what it can do; or for how much longer we can expect this influx of souls... _*sigh*_ Great, just great." Hades ground out, his very limited patience wearing thin.  
"Let me know when the amount of new arrivals begins to slow." He ordered, nose already buried back in his work.  
"Sure thing boss." Panic replied before dashing off, thanking the gods that he didn't get used as target practice.  
  


* * *

Pain shoved a few souls back into their place in the line, chastising them as he did.   
"Hey, no cuts. The boss said he'd see all of you in order of arrival, I don't care who you are you can just wait."  
Panic trotted up to his brother, greeting him with a wave.  
"Hey, so the big guy wants us to let him know when things start to calm down." He told Pain.  
"Alright, well I think it may be starting to slow down now. Charon is bringing fewer souls at a time now. Might want to wait for a while though, don't wanna call it too prematurely." Pain replied as he scanned the river for any signs of Charon returning with another load.  
"Yeah, that would be bad. The boss would get really mad if we told him things were calming down, only for them to get crazy again." Agreed Panic.  
"Hey Panic. I've, uh been meaning to ask you something."  
"Really? What is it?" Panic replied curiously.  
"That stuff Hades drinks... um, what was it called again?" Pain trailed off as he tried to remember.  
"Do you mean the Ambrosia or the Nectar?" Panic supplied helpfully.  
"The first one." Answered Pain.  
"Ambrosia, what about it?" Asked Panic.  
"Is it like important or something?" Pain asked hesitantly.  
"Well I think it helps restore the god's strength, and rejuvenates them. So I guess it's important... why?" Panic asked, starting to get a bad feeling. Did Pain drink some? Did he break the vessel it was stored in. These thoughts raced through Panic's mind.  
"It's just... when was the last time you remember seeing Hades drink some?" Pain asked staring at Panic with worry.  
"Uh, hrmmm... I think he had some right before Hercules showed up on Olympus... during the...uprising...oh." Panic was sure he felt his heart drop to his stomach once he realized what Pain had just pointed out with his question.  
"Hades hasn't had any since the uprising failed." Panic stated, his own expression matching his brother's.  
"So I was right... That's not good is it?" Pain asked unsurely.  
"It may be why Hades isn't well right now." Panic replied.  
The two imps shared a look of understanding, before they both dashed for the stairs. Scrambling and tripping in their haste to climb them.  
  


* * *

Hermes had heard that the lady queen had returned to Olympus, that and the fact she'd kicked Zeus out; again.  
He flew through Olympus with a bouquet in hand for Hera, hoping to improve her mood with it.  
"Knock knock M'lady." Hermes called out as he flew into Zeus and Hera's home.  
"Hermes, how wonderful to see you. You're actually the one I wanted to see the most right now." Hera greeted the small blue messenger god gracefully, causing Hermes to blush a little.  
"Well I'm glad I could brighten your evening a little. Here, these are for you. Demeter was kind enough to make the bouquet for me this time." Hermes handed the flowers to Hera who gratefully accepted them, immediately conjuring a vase to put them in.  
"They're beautiful. Thank you Hermes."   
"You're welcome. Now what can I do for you? You said you wanted to see me, need a message delivered? Then I'm you're god babe." Hermes said enthusiastically.  
"Well, I know about what Zeus has done to Hades." Hera began.  
"The smack or the locking him down there and throwing away the key?" Hermes interrupted.  
"Both, but confining Hades to the Underworld and forbidding anyone contact with him is what concerns me the most. And I thought you could help." Hera continued as if Hermes hadn't just interrupted.   
"Woah I gotta stop you there M'lady, I'm sorry but I can't have any contact with Hades either. If Zeus found out he'd lock me out of the Underworld, and besides it's not like I go there everyday; it'd be suspicious if I suddenly started going there without a mortal soul in tow." Hermes began to explain, causing Hera to chuckle.  
"I should have guessed that you had already planned to keep an eye on Hades as much as you could."  
"Well someone's got to. I know he doesn't say it, but the guy is really lonely." Hermes replied with a sad sigh.  
"Yes I know. And I won't ask you to try and sneak messages between Hades and I, but I will ask you to at least look to make sure he's alright whenever you do go to the Underworld; and then report back to me once you get back to Olympus. Can you do that for me Hermes?" Hera pleaded.  
"Well, as long as I don't strike up a conversation I don't think it'd be against the rules. I mean it's not like I can control what I see as I fly by right. Alright, you got it babe. When ever I do have to escort a mortal's soul I'll swing by Hades' place and take a peek to see how the H man is doing." Hermes promised his queen much to her delight.  
"Oh Hermes, I knew I could count on you." Hera exclaimed, grabbing the small god and pulling him close; giving him a chaste peck on his cheek, Hermes blushing furiously in response.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said before I couldn't promise a regular update schedule but I'm gonna try to add a chapter each Saturday NZ time.  
> A few days before update day you may see me add or change tags as I finalize the upcoming chapter.  
> I'm trying to keep at least one Chapter ahead of you guys. So while you're reading this chapter I'm working on Chapter 6  
> I'm not planning a head of time where to end my chapters, I just stop when I reach what I feel is a natural stopping point, So I'm sorry if you feel chapters are too short or if you feel they stop in a weird place.
> 
> Also You'll have to pay attention to what characters are saying to find out how much time is passing through the story, I'm not going to do the whole Spongebob three weeks later time card thing; Sorry.
> 
> And now for a few clarification notes.
> 
> 1\. The order of the 6 original Olympian siblings.  
> I just thought it would help if I place Hades and his siblings here in order of oldest to youngest.  
> His sisters are all older than him, his brothers all younger, so here's the list; remember it's oldest to youngest.  
> The Children of Cronus & Rhea - Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon & Zeus
> 
> 2\. Chronos/Kronos and Cronus are two different entities.  
> Chronos/Kronos is a primordial Greek god and an embodiment of time.  
> Cronus is a Titan, he was a god of Harvest and the younger brother of Rhea
> 
> 3\. Asclepius  
> Asclepius is the ancient Greek God of medicine, healing, rejuvenation and physicians/doctors.
> 
> As always enjoy, or not; whatever works for you.

* * *

Pain and Panic slowly and carefully entered Hades' office, a silver tray being balanced between them. On the tray was a crystal decanter full of plum coloured Ambrosia and a matching crystal drinking glass.   
Cautiously they approached Hades who was still processing the endless line of souls.

Pain quietly cleared his throat to gain the god's attention.  
"Uh boss, we thought you might like some refreshment while you work."   
The two imps offered the tray to Hades who looked at it blankly for a brief moment before waving the imps away.  
"Thanks but not now boys, I'm not thirsty."  
"But sir, you haven't had anything for weeks." Panic stated worriedly.  
"Yeah big guy, a small one won't hurt." Pain continued trying to persuade Hades to take a drink.  
"NOT NOW, I'm busy." Hades repeated firmly, growing annoyed.  
"But..." The two imps started in unison before Hades cut them off.  
"I SAID NOT NOW! CAN'T YOU TWO SEE I'M UP TO MY NECK IN WORK!!!" The god raged at the imps, causing them to beat a hasty retreat squealing in fear.

Hades glared at the retreating backs of the frightened imp's, a small twinge of guilt for scaring them causing him to pause in his work. With a frustrated sigh he directed his glare towards the mortal soul that was currently trying to merge into the wall, terrified of the god.  
"Here." Snapped Hades thrusting his hand out in the direction of the soul, slip of parchment in hand.  
"Take this, down that corridor, hand it to the first being you see, they'll direct you from there, yadda yadda yadda... aaand he's gone." Hades repeated for the umpteenth time, pausing for a moment or two; trying to refocus.

"Next!" He yelled out, another timid mortal tiptoeing into the office, their parchment-work appearing on Hades' desk.  
_'Is there no end to this infernal epidemic.'_ Hades thought to himself as he struggled to concentrate on the parchment in front of him, the words all seeming to blur together.

* * *

  
Zeus and Posiedon ambled through Olympus chatting together. Hera had wanted him to talk to his brothers more, so that's what he'd do... starting with Posiedon.  
"So things in the ocean are going well." Zeus said trying to strike up conversation with his elder brother, the shorter oceanic god replying distractedly.  
"Things are going fine, the mortals are paying appropriate tribute and aren't fouling the sea too much."  
"Good, good. Have to keep them in their place. Don't want them getting to big for their togas, it's a pain to have to keep destroying and remaking them." Zeus replied cheerfully.  
"But is it really for us to decide where they or anyone else's place is..." Posiedon muttered without realizing.  
"What was that Posiedon? You say something?" Zeus asked after hearing his elder brother mutter something, but not quite able to hear what.  
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." The blue god replied, worried that he may be confined to his own realm if he spoke up. Zeus stopped, looking at his brother with concern.  
"Posiedon is there something the matter? If there's something troubling you I'll do all I can to aid you." He sincerely said to the ocean god.  
"It's just, I think you may have been too hard on Hades." Posiedon replied hesitantly.  
"Aw c'mon, not you too. Has Hera been talking to you?" Zeus whined.  
"No... it's just..." Posiedon began before being cut off.  
"Come now, I know it's hard to watch our eldest brother be punished; but he attacked us, his own family. Who knows what else he could be capable of, I had to put him in his place."  
"I just don't think shutting Hades away and cutting ties with him will help. I _*sigh*_ I just think it will make things worse, and... I don't want to loose a brother, I don't want to loose either of you." Posiedon firmly stated, glad that he had finally spoken his mind; and a little ashamed he hadn't spoken up while Hades was being judged.  
"Uh, well... um." Zeus was at a loss as what to say, an awkward silence forming between the two gods.  
"Oh look it's Asclepius!" exclaimed Zeus, glad for the opportunity to break the awkwardness.  
"We haven't seen you in little over a week now Asclepius, how're things going? Managed to stop that epidemic that's been raging over southern Greece?" He continued, greeting an exhausted Asclepius.  
"I think so, the Doctors and Apothecaries seem to have figured out an effective treatment. Seems to work fifty percent of the time, depends on the patient and how soon treatment begins." The medicinal god replied.  
"So what is the disease the mortals have this time?" Asked Posiedon curiously.  
"I decided to let the mortals come up with a name this time. They're probably still arguing over what to call it, I'll let you know once they've made up their minds." Asclepius promised.  
"Until then I suggest some ambrosia and a long nap." Suggested Zeus, the exhausted Asclepius nodding in agreement.  
"Yes, that's what I plan to do now. If you'll excuse me." He excused himself, slowly trudging towards his home for a much needed nap; the two older gods watching his slowly retreating form.  
"Now what were we talking about?" Zeus asked Posiedon who merely sighed saying.  
"Nothing Zeus. I have to go."  
Zeus was left standing alone after his elder brother's sudden departure, after a few moments he decided to go and find Hera; tell her that he'd already begun communicating with his brothers more, and hope that she'd forgiven him finally.

* * *

  
Down in the underworld Panic snuck his head around the door frame of Hades' office.  
"Uh, um... Boss?" He called anxiously.  
"What is it now Panic?" The god replied without looking up from his work.  
"Well you wanted me to let you know once the new arrivals began to slow, and, well, it appears they have... at least only half the amount of souls are showing up now."  
"Charon's not just dumping them in the river again is he?" Hades asked, still not looking up from his work.  
"We're fairly sure he isn't." Panic replied.  
"Fine. Let me know if the situation changes again."   
"Yes Sir...." Panic trailed off, still hanging around; still not showing any more of himself other than his head. The god sighed in frustration when he noticed Panic still hadn't left.  
"Is there something else?" He asked the anxious imp.  
"Um, well... are you sure you don't want anything to drink boss?"  
That finally made Hades look up from his work, his murderous glare enough of an answer for the imp to squeak in fear before quickly withdrawing from his master's sight.

  
Panic followed the line of souls down to the docks once more, making sure everyone was in place and forcing them back into line if they weren't.  
"So you told him?" Pain asked once Panic appeared.  
"Yeah."  
"He still not want anything to drink?" He asked his brother.  
"Nope." Replied Panic with a sigh.  
"Just how long have we been doing this for?" Asked Pain.  
"Serving Hades or dealing with this all these extra souls from the epidemic?" Panic asked as he pushed a wandering soul back into line.  
"This epidemic thing." Answered Pain.  
"Hrmmm, it must be a little over a week now."  
"Oh gods I hope this ends soon. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up for." Pain whined, his brother nodding in agreement.  
  


"Hey is that Hermes?" Panic suddenly asked as he looked out over the horizon. Pain followed Panic's gaze until he too could see the small blue god.  
"Yeah. Looks like he's got a soul with him... better get ready for the scroll drop." Pain replied, both imps held their hands out, ready to catch the soul's already completed Parchment-work as the messenger god flew by.  
Running backwards Pain caught the scroll, only to then smack hard into the wall of the palace.   
"Gah! Owww." He whined from his place on the ground, Panic quickly rushing over to help him up.  
"Here, you'd better get this to the boss." Pain said as he tried to hand the scroll off to Panic.  
"Uh uh, you caught it, you take it." Panic replied, backing away from the offered scroll.  
"Aw c'mon Panic, just take it to the big guy for me."  
"No way! I was just there, you take it."  
"Guhhh, fiiine." Pain whined, slowly beginning to trudge up the stairs to the palace.

  
"Uh, hey Boss, Hermes just flew by with a soul; I got the parchment-work right here." Pain announced as he cautiously entered the office.   
Hades didn't bother looking up from his work, merely tapped a spot on the desk with a bony finger; indicating where he wanted the scroll left so he could review it later.  
"So, uh Boss." Pain began hesitantly after placing the scroll, Hades sighed in frustration before sharply saying.  
"WHAT?"   
Pain backed up a few paces before answering.  
"Oh, uh well... you sure you're not feeling even a **little** thirsty?"   
Hades gave the magenta imp a sidelong glare.  
"OUT." His single worded reply causing the desired effect of Pain tripping over his own feet in his haste to leave the office.

* * *

  
Hermes finished dropping off his charge to where they belonged, giving the mortal a friendly wave before dashing off again.  
True to his word he stopped by Hades' palace, scoping out the organized chaos; the two imps scrambling back an forth trying their best to keep it together.  
He hovered overhead for a bit before stealthily flying over to the window of Hades' office.  
He peeked around the corner finding a frustrated Hades working double time just to attempt to keep up with the influx of souls.  
Concerningly Hermes noticed that Hades still appeared paler than normal, sweat beading at his brow.  
After a few minutes Hermes took off, flying faster than normal in an attempt to make up for lost time; that and he'd need to report in with Queen Hera upon his return to Olympus.

* * *

  
By the time Hermes arrived back on Mt Olympus the sun had set and the moon was high in the sky, still he determinedly flew up to where he knew Hera would be; waiting for his first report.  
As he approached Hera's home voices caused him to stop suddenly, Hermes pressed himself against a cloud pillar to conceal himself.  
Hera and Zeus were arguing, again. And Zeus was losing, again.  
Hermes barely contained a chuckle as Hera concluded the argument and Zeus left dejected, once more on his own for the night.  
"Nicely done M'lady." Hermes praised as he slipped out from his hiding spot behind the pillar.  
"OH! Oh Herems it's only you. You gave me quite a start." Hera startled before chiding Hermes gently.  
"Sorry M'lady, that wasn't my intent I swear." Hermes replied apologetically.  
"That's alright Hermes. You needed to see me?" Hera quickly forgave the small blue god.  
"yes I did. I finally had to escort a soul down to the Underworld. And let me tell you babe, things were humming down there, they're swamped with souls from this epidemic that's still going on down on earth." Hermes reported enthusiastically.  
"And what of Hades?" Inquired Hera.  
"Hrmm? Well I took a quick peek through his office window..." Hermes began before being interrupted by an impatient Hera.  
"And? Is he alright?" She asked with obvious concern for her younger brother's well being.  
"Easy M'lady I'm getting there. Anyway I looked in through the window and Hades was working like a mad man but still isn't looking too hot. He's still paler than usual and funnily enough his face is still bruised, that should’ve healed an age ago." Hermes finished recounting what he had observed in the Underworld.  
"He's still injured? But he's a god, he should've finished healing in at most an hour or two." Hera commented with concern.  
"Yeah I know, there's definitely something wrong with the H man at the moment." Hermes agreed. Hera sighed in worry before addressing Hermes once more.  
"I thank you for your help Hermes, you must be exhausted; please go rest now." She dismissed him gently, Hermes bowing low in response.  
"Very well M'lady. Sleep well." He farewelled his queen, dashing off towards his own home for some much needed rest.  
  
"Oh Hades, I wish I knew how to help you right now." Hera lamented to herself, looking out over the horizon.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright this makes two Saturdays in a row where I have successfully added a new chapter, so here's Chapter 5 ready for your reading pleasure.  
> Just a heads up this chapter's a long one.
> 
> Just a few quick clarification notes.
> 
> 1\. Ambrosia & Nectar - What are they?  
> So some of the sources of Greek mythology refer to Ambrosia as the food of the gods, and others refer to it as the Nectar of the gods and then other sources again have Nectar being something else entirely.  
> So for my Story's universe both Ambrosia and Nectar are beverages/drinks.  
> Ambrosia being like a liquid power source for the gods that they must consume on a regular basis to replenish themselves.  
> And Nectar being like their version of Alcohol, Along with some non Alcoholic versions for the underage Gods/Goddesses.
> 
> 2\. Ambrosia & Nectar - What they look like in my Story's universe  
> There was no real description that I could find for Amborsia and Nectar so I can only describe what they look like in my Story's universe.  
> I sort of see Ambrosia being a plum colour, the richer the colour the stronger the Ambrosia, the stronger stuff of course meant for the more powerful deities when they need to replenish a lot of energy.  
> As for Nectar I see it as a deep amber colour, like Mead or Whiskey.  
>    
> Hope that helped clear up any confusion.
> 
> Also on a side note Hermes and Asclepius talk about panic attacks briefly and Hermes may seem a bit dismissive about it, this is only because back then they didn't really understand psychology or how powerful the mind could be, and because he's never heard of them before he doesn't really understand them, I apologize if it offends anyone I was just trying to stay true to the era and how the characters may react.
> 
> As always enjoy, or not; whatever works for you.

* * *

  
In the Underworld things were beginning to calm down, Charon was ferrying fewer and fewer souls across the Styx; and it seemed as though the epidemic was finally ending.  
Charon's boat landed once more at the dock beneath the palace, three mortal souls disembarking, milling about the empty dock. Pain and Panic approached the new arrivals, the two imps exhausted, dragging their feet as they walked.  
"Aww c'mon! How can there be more?" Pain cried out in frustration.  
"Just how many more are there Charon?" Panic asked wearily, he could see that Charon was just as exhausted as they were; the ferryman slumped over using his punt to keep himself upright. He shook his head in response to Panic's question.  
"Is it that bad?" The teal imp asked in despair. The silent ferryman shook his head once more.  
"Wait, what does that mean?" Pain asked as he sorted the three souls into a line. Charon merely shaking his head again, both imps wishing the ferryman could actually talk.  
"Are, are you trying to tell us that there are no more souls waiting to cross the Styx?" Panic asked hopefully. Charon nodded this time, causing both imps to jump and whoop with joy.  
"It's over, it's finally over." Pain cried out in joy.  
"Yeah, let's get these souls to the line still in the palace." Panic said as he started herding the souls up the stairs.  
"Yeah, then we can give the big guy the good news." Pain agreed enthusiastically.  
"Thanks Charon. Enjoy your break." Panic waved the exhausted boatman goodbye before they disappeared from view.

  
"Hey Boss!" The two imps shouted in unison as they barrelled through the door of Hades' office, the overworked god glaring at them, a silent promise of pain if they didn't have a good reason for their interruption.  
"Charon says there's no more souls left waiting to cross the Styx." Pain shouted gleefully.  
"Yeah! There's only the ones left in line outside your office, and including the last three Charon brought there's only twenty one to go." Panic informed their master, barely able to keep still at the thought of getting a break in the near future.  
"Great news boys! Let's pick up the pace then, and keep that line moving." Hades exclaimed, perking up with the good news.  
He refocused his attention back onto the current mortals parchment-work, the office becoming a hive of activity. Pain left the office to manage the shrinking line, and Panic began filing away finished parchment-work that Hades hadn't had the energy to file.

* * *

  
Hermes flew over Hades' palace once more, mortal soul in tow. He couldn't see the imps or endless line from before. Unable to simply drop the soul's parchment-work with no one around to catch it the messenger god took it with him.  
 _'I'll just have to drop it off on my way back.'_ He thought to himself, already halfway to his destination.

* * *

  
"Alright, here you go. Take this parchment, go down that corridor and hand it to the first being you see, they'll direct you from there." Hades explained for the final time as he handed the female mortal the parchment slip. He and the imps watched her disappear down the corridor.  
"Yeah! Finally, that was the last one!" Pain shouted in celebration.  
"Now we can get some rest." Panic sighed in relief.  
"Uh uh, not quite. Last thing is checking the Parchment-work that Hermes dropped off." Hades stated as he unrolled the scroll, checking the messenger god's work  
"Uh boss." Pain said trying to draw Hades' attention.  
"Look if this is about the Ambrosia thing, I promise I'll have some just as soon as I'm done with this." Hades cut the imp off.   
Satisfied with Hermes' scroll he co-signed the parchment-work, rolling it up ready for filing.  
"That's great boss, but we wanted to ask you something." Panic said as he took the scroll from the god, quickly filing it away.  
"Yes you two can have a few hours off, go have fun or sleep or whatever you two do when you're not working." Hades dismissed them believing that was what they wanted.  
"That's not it either big guy, but thanks." Pain replied happy at the prospect of lazing about for a while.  
"Then what is it?" Hades asked growing annoyed.  
"We... were just wondering that if Zeus doing that to your face wasn't your punishment..." Panic began.  
"...Then what is?" Pain finished  
"Huh? Oh yeah, that... I'm confined the Underworld." Hades replied distractedly as he stood and stretched, a few of his joints popping in protest. _'Time for a long nap'_ He thought to himself.  
"For how long Sir?" Panic asked.  
"Excuse me?" Hades stopped mid-stretch at Panic's question, turning to face the imp with a surprised look on his face.  
"For how long are you confined to the Underworld Sir?" Panic repeated, becoming anxious when his master didn't reply.

Hades stood still, his heart quickening with the realization that Zeus never did say for how long he would be trapped within his own realm.  
The god's good mood instantly vanished, he stormed into the throne room and looking up at the ceiling he roared out his brother's name; sure that the other would be listening.  
 **"ZEEUUUSS!!!"**

* * *

  
On Olympus Zeus heard his eldest brother's enraged cry, demanding his attention.  
"nnghhh." He growled in annoyance.  
"Zeus? What's the matter?" Hera asked, her husband had just been in the middle of trying to convince her that he was communicating with his brother's more, again; when he stopped mid sentence.  
"It's Hades. He's yelling out my name, sounds like he wants my attention." The chief god replied.  
"Then off you go, go see what he wants." Hera prompted.  
"What?" Zeus yelped in surprise.  
"You were just trying to convince me that you were communicating with your brothers more, now is the perfect opportunity to prove it." Hera stated firmly, challenging her husband.  
"Ngh _*sigh*_ Fine, I'll be back soon." He relented, disappearing with a puff of white clouds.

* * *

  
Zeus appeared in the remains of Hades' throne room, his elder brother standing only a few steps away.  
"And no one else, yeah right! I knew you'd make sure you'd be able to come and go as you pleased from my realm." Hades snarked as soon as his younger brother materialized.  
Zeus scowled, growling in annoyance.  
"It's my barrier Hades, of course I can pass through it. Now if that's all you wanted I'll be leaving." He replied with disdain.  
"Hold up Bolt Boy. You conveniently left a crucial piece of information out, when you were in the middle of throwing me away on Olympus." Hades snarled at the other deity.

Pain and Panic who had initially followed Hades to the throne room now dashed out of the room, rushing out into the corridor and through the door of a nearby room; fearing a fight between gods was about to break out, and really not wanting to be caught between the two.

"And what information was that?" Zeus asked, squaring his shoulders defensively; ready to remind Hades again who was chief amongst the gods if he had to.  
"You forgot to tell me just how long my sentence is." Hades snapped back, hands balling into fists.  
"How long your sentence is?" Zeus queried, looking down his nose at his eldest brother.  
"Yes, how long my sentence is; how long you're planning on keeping me locked up inside my own realm!" Hades snarled, his temper beginning to flare.  
"I'm not entirely sure." Zeus replied simply. Hades’ raging flames suddenly dying down with his confusion.  
"Excuse me, what!?" He demanded, not sure if he had heard his brother correctly.  
"I said I'm not sure Hades. It entirely depends on you. You're a bad influence on our younger generation of gods. And worse you're a danger to them and the rest of our family." Explained Zeus.  
"I'm a danger to them?" The elder god repeated incredulously.  
"Of course you are! You attacked Olympus! You bound the other Gods and Goddesses in chains! If that's not being a danger to them I don't know what is. So until you learn your place, you're not leaving the Underworld, not as long as I'm the king of Olympus." Zeus snarled, pointing one finger at the now stunned god. 

Zeus looked his brother up and down in a way that made Hades feel inadequate, unworthy and lowly. Then with a puff of white clouds Zeus was gone, leaving Hades alone with his racing thoughts.  
Thoughts that kept coming to the same conclusion, over and over again.

  
With silence returning to the palace Pain and Panic crept back into the throne room, just in time to see Hades suddenly fall to his knees.  
"Boss!" They cried out in unison, scrambling to their master's side.  
"Boss what's the matter?" Asked Pain.  
"Are you okay?" Panic fretted.  
"Say something!" They shouted together frantically, their worry growing the longer Hades remained silent.  
"I... I'm... I'm never getting out of here..." Hades murmured in shock, his breath coming in quick short pants.   
What was wrong with him, he couldn't breathe, but he was a god he didn't need to breathe like some mortal.   
But could he even be classed as a god any more, trapped within his own realm, unable to breathe or speak. He could feel tears forming at the corners of his eyes, he couldn't believe this; he hadn't cried since he was a child, so why now?  
He suddenly felt sick to his stomach, dry heaving as it rebelled against him despite being empty.  
He needed to get out of here, he couldn't stay. 

Hades tried to scramble to his feet, Pain and Panic not sure what was going on or how to help floundered around their panicking master helplessly.  
"Uh boss I don't think you should get up." Pain commented in concern.  
"Yeah, maybe you should just lie down." Panic stated, agreeing with his brother.  
But the Lord of the Underworld wasn't listening, too focused on rising to his feet.  
Once on his feet the world began to spin and pitch dangerously, Hades stumbling around unable to keep his balance.   
He had to get out of there, to where? He didn't know, anywhere was better than where he was right now. He was still panting, unable to catch his breath.   
The world grew dimmer as the walls seemed to close in around him, causing the god to panic even more.   
Hades managed a few stumbling steps towards the door before collapsing, letting out a soft groan as the world went completely dark; sending him into blissful unconsciousness.

Pain and Panic ran around the room screaming.  
"What do we do, what do we do, what do we do!?" Panic chanted, his own breathing beginning to shorten. Pain rushed up to his brother, smacking him in the face a few times snapping him out of his panic induced trance.  
"We need to find some help, someone who would know what to do to help a god." Pain stated strangely calm, still Panic could feel his brother's hands on his shoulders tremble.

Then they heard it, the distant flapping of winged sandals.   
The two imps looked out the window of the throne room, in the distance was a familiar blue god.

Pain and Panic leapt from the window, their wings flapping furiously as they made a beeline for the messenger god; all but colliding with the surprised god.  
"Whoa whoa whoa, guys, where's the fire?" Hermes cried out as he narrowly dodged the barrage of imps.   
The imps couldn't reply, too busy trying to catch their breath.  
"Did Hades throw you two out the window again?" He asked them, casting a glance over the two imps; checking for injuries. Hades really was too hard on them sometimes.  
"No, that's not it!" Pain managed to gasp out.  
"We, we need your help!" Panic cried out, grasping at Hermes' toga.  
"Whoa, watch the claws babe." Hermes shooed the imp off himself.  
"Guh, sorry." Panic apologized  
"Look we need your help Hermes, it's Hades..." Pain began before being cut off by Hermes.  
"Look guys I can't help, I'm not allowed any contact with Hades; orders from the top if you know what I mean."   
"But he's collapsed!" Panic cried out  
"Yeah, and we have no idea what to do." Pain finished, both imps pleading, hands held in front of them as if in prayer.  
"He's collapsed?" Hermes asked in surprise as an inner conflict began within his mind.

On one hand Zeus had forbidden contact with the dark god until further notice.  
On the other hand Queen Hera had asked Hermes to keep an eye on her younger brother, not to mention Hermes couldn't really leave with a clear conscience knowing Hades was passed out somewhere... and the imps were beside themselves, they looked ready to burst into tears if he refused to help them.  
"Okay, alright. Just keep this on the DL okay?" He relented, the two imps perking up grabbing his hands and dragging him towards the palace.

* * *

  
Zeus reappeared on Mt Olympus, dark clouds beginning to form unbidden at the god's mood.  
"Honey what happened?" Hera asked her newly returned husband.  
"Nothing, just a waste of my time is all." Zeus snapped before stalking off in search of something he could blow off steam with.

Hera watched her husband stalk off, her worry for Hades growing as the sky continued to darken. She desperately hoped that Zeus hadn't lost his temper and struck Hades again.  
She knew that Hermes had another soul to escort today and prayed for his swift return, hopefully with news of what happened while Zeus was in the Underworld.

* * *

  
Hermes cried out in surprise and indignation as the two imps dragged him through the palace window and into the still half demolished throne room.  
He freed himself from their grasp, straightening his glasses and dusting off his clothes.

Once he had finished straightening out his appearance Hermes looked about the room, there lying motionless on the floor was Hades.  
Cautiously he approached the unconscious Lord of the Underworld, the two imps already by their master's side, wringing their tails as they quietly fretted.  
Landing on the ground Hermes knelt next to Hades.   
Gently he rolled Hades onto his back, beginning to check the other god's condition.

  
Hades was even paler than before if that was possible, cold sweat running down his temples as even in his current state of unconsciousness he seemed to have trouble breathing. Hermes took note of the fact that Hades' face still hadn't healed and even his hair was out, the elder god seemingly drained of all his energy.  
"Man, when was the last time you had some Ambrosia..." Hermes mused not talking to anyone in particular.  
"Um, we think the last time he had any was right before Hercules freed all of you guys." Panic supplied helpfully.  
"Yeah but he spat it back out when Hercules arrived, so we're not sure if he actually drank some..." Pain stated as Hermes looked at the two imps in surprise.  
"Think real hard now guys, when did you last see Hades drink some Ambrosia." He asked firmly, hand gripping Hades' lifeless one.  
"Hrmmm, the last time I saw Hades drink any was right before the incident with Nessus." Panic answered, thinking as hard as he could.  
"Yeah I remember that. He was drinking some while explaining to that mortal woman that if she convinced the river guardian to join his side he'd subtract two years off of her contract." Pain confirmed.  
"When was that?" Hermes asked urgently.  
"Well he still could've had some while we were out on missions..." Panic trailed off.  
"Yeah we were really busy then. Between our usual duties and all the extra missions Hades was sending us o..."   
"GUYS FOCUS!" Hermes interrupted Pain. "How long ago was it that you actually **saw** him drink some?" He repeated.  
"Well the river guardian incident was about two or three weeks before the uprising..." Panic replied anxiously.  
"So you're telling me that Hades hasn't had **any** Ambrosia for almost two months!?" Hermes cried out in disbelief.  
"We tried to get him to drink some during the epidemic." Pain replied defensively.  
"Yeah, thought he was gonna roast us again when we tried." Panic said, shuddering at the close call.  
"If it weren't for the tray and Ambrosia on it he probably would have." Pain agreed, also shuddering at the memory.

"Grah! Hades you fool! You may be an immortal god but that doesn't mean you won't suffer if you starve yourself!" Fumed Hermes.  
"The boss doesn't really drink much of that stuff anyway, just a glass here and there." Pain stated.  
"Yeah, he says he doesn't want to be like all of you guys over-indulging all the time." Panic continued.  
"He usually only has one glass a week, sometimes two weeks." Pain explained to the increasingly agitated messenger god.  
"Alright, I've definitely got to talk to Hades about his self care habits, but that's an issue for another time. Now, I assume Hades has a stock of Ambrosia. I need you two to get some, the good stuff, the strongest you can find." Hermes instructed, two imps nodding in understanding before dashing off.  
"And you can forget the tray, just a glass." He called after them as they disappeared around the corner.

"Alright babe, let's get you into a better position for drinking shall we." Hermes spoke to the unconscious Hades.  
After a few minutes of struggle Hermes had managed to reposition himself and Hades, the elder now in a half sitting position, his head resting on Hermes' chest as the younger god knelt on the ground keeping him upright.

A few more minutes passed, Hermes silently sitting listening to Hades' laboured breathing; then finally the sound of frantic imp feet coming down the hall could be heard.  
Pain and Panic burst into the throne room, decanter and glass in hand.  
They stopped at the two gods' sides, panting with exhaustion; Hermes nodded in approval at the rich plum coloured liquid and began his next set of instructions.  
"Good, now pour some into the glass, just a half for now; and don't spill any."  
The two imps worked together, Panic pouring the Ambrosia into the glass Pain was clinging onto tightly; slowly he turned to the messenger god and handed the glass to him, Hermes quickly snatching it out of his hands.  
Gently he tilt Hades' head back a little and placed the glass to the unconscious gods lips; slowly pouring a small sips worth in. He repeated the process a few more times, using a third of what the imps had poured into the glass.  
Then just as Hermes was beginning to doubt that his plan would work he felt Hades' body twitch, then a soft groan escaped the dark god as he slowly came back to awareness.  
"Easy Hades, just drink this, not too fast; just sip it. You'll make yourself sick otherwise. There you go." Hermes soothed the confused god.  
"Where...?" Hades began only to be shushed by Hermes.  
"No no, no speaking babe, just drinking. That's it." He patted Hades' shoulder in a comforting way, encouraging the the elder god to finish what Ambrosia remained in the glass. Once finished Hermes handed the glass to Panic, then shifted his position so he was gripping Hades under the arms.  
"Pain grab his feet, Panic lead the way to his bed, and don't drop the Ambrosia." Hermes instructed the imps who instantly obeyed.  
Hades who was still only half aware simply allowed the messenger god and two imps to do as they pleased, too drained to even put up a half hearted complaint.

  
Panic held open the door to Hades' bedroom with his hip, refusing to loosen his grip on the Ambrosia Decanter or glass.   
Hermes and Pain hovered past him, being careful not to catch Hades on the door frame.  
They gently set Hades on his bed, Panic letting go of the god's ankles to quickly adjust the pillows so Hades could recline in a half sitting position.  
"All right you two pour another glass, a full one this time." Hermes instructed as he pulled Hades' dark grey blanket up, covering his lower body. Pain and Panic quickly obeyed the messenger god, filling the glass to just under the rim.  
"Hey... you two... do know... you're my... minions... not his... right?" Hades murmured weakly, the smallest of smirks on his face.  
The two imps stopped in their actions, unsurely they looked to Hades, then each other and finally at Hermes; looking for firm instructions.  
"Just pour the Ambrosia guys." Hermes said exasperated. "And you, shush, stop wasting energy." Hermes gently admonished Hades as he began checking the elder god's condition once more.  
"At least it appears as if your face is starting to heal now." He commented as he checked Hades' split lip and bruised cheek. He took the now full glass of Ambrosia from the imps, once more placing it at Hades' lips.  
"Here, drink." Hermes ordered curtly, annoyed at Hades' lack of self care now that he wasn't in such a critical condition. Hades turned his head to one side, refusing to cooperate.  
"I don't... need you to... hold the glass... I can do it... myself." He whined, a bit stronger now as the Ambrosia from before worked it's way into his system.  
"Hades you'd better not test my patience right now, because I swear to the primordials that you will regret it. Now drink!" Hermes snapped, the wings on his sandals fluttering with his agitation.  
Hades scowled in frustration, angry at how weak he was; so weak that even Hermes could easily push him around.  
"Hades." Hermes warned, a rare stern look on his face. Hades growled in frustration but complied, turning his head back towards the waiting glass, obediently drinking from it.  
"That's it, just sip it slowly." Encouraged Hermes, once more gently patting Hades on the shoulder.  
Despite Hermes best intentions Hades felt humiliated, pathetically weak, useless.  
Hades turned his head away from the glass again, his stomach trying to rebel once more with a strong wave of nausea.  
Hermes was about to admonish the elder god once more when he noticed the grimace on his face and the way Hades was gripping his stomach with one hand.  
"Stomach playing up?" He guessed, Hades nodding silently worried speaking may cause him to vomit.  
Hermes looked at the glass and frowned at seeing that Hades had only drank a little under half the glass, he sighed before speaking.  
"Alright, that might be enough at the moment. We'll give your system a chance to process what you've drank so far... that's if you can keep it down." Hermes said with concern, watching the dark god closely; the immediate danger of Hades throwing up seemed to have passed as he settled back against the pillows with an exhausted sigh.

"Well if you're not drinking, maybe we can have a little chat." Suggested Hermes noting the way Hades tensed in reply.  
"I thought... I wasn't... supposed to... waste energy." He snarked back wearily.  
"Well this can't wait. I don't have much time left before Zeus gets suspicious." Hermes replied gravely. Hades' eyes widened at the sound of his younger brother's name, and quickly turned his head to avoid Hermes' gaze.  
Hermes surprised at the reaction softened his gaze, and spoke in a gentle tone trying not to agitate the weakened god.  
"Hades, what happened before you collapsed? Pain and Panic were really freaked out when they begged for my help."  
Hades stubbornly refused to look at the messenger god. Hermes sighed in frustration, instead turning to the imps for answers.  
"Alright guys, what happened before Hades collapsed?" He asked the two stressed imps.  
The imps were reluctant to answer, Hades was their master and telling Hermes what happened might upset him. But the imps felt as though they owed the blue god for helping them, so began to hesitantly speak.  
"Well Hades called for Zeus to find out how long he was sentenced to being stuck down here..." Pain began.  
"Then they started arguing and we fled the room. We would've been toast if we they had started fighting..." Continued Panic  
"Then when things quietened down we went to go see what had happened, and Hades sort of collapsed then too..." Pain followed on from where Panic left off.  
"Then the boss sort of had this funny fit, like he couldn't breathe, he tried to get up but wasn't able to keep his balance..." Explained Panic.  
"Yeah, we tried to get him to lie down but it was like he couldn't hear us or somethin'." Pain stated.  
"And when he tried to walk to the door, he sort of stumbled before collapsing, then we came and got you." Panic concluded the abbreviated sorry.  
"Mm hm." Hermes felt a headache coming on after the imps finished their story, a lot of details left out that would help explain what went down before he arrived on the scene.

"Alright Hades, it's your turn to share." Hermes prompted the dark god who was glaring at the two imps.  
"Traitors..." He muttered before turning his gaze to Hermes. "I have... nothing... to add." He stated simply, turning his head to look the other way once more.  
"Awww c'mon, Hades, babe. Work with me here, I can't help if I don't know what's going on." Hermes tried to convince the stubborn god, stubbornness something else the six siblings shared; but Hades seemed to have gotten the lions share of it.  
"Look I'll make this easy. Why don't we start with what you and Zeus spoke about after Pain and Panic fled the scene." Hermes all but pleaded.  
"No... comment." Was the only reply.  
"Hades, Zeus must've said or done something to set off that strange fit. Did he hit you again?" Hermes asked. He hadn't seen any more injuries, but couldn't rule out the possibility that Hades' clothing was hiding the evidence.  
Hades merely grunted in reply briefly shaking his head.  
"Okay then, did he threaten you or say something to upset you?" Hermes persisted causing Hades to sigh in frustration, knowing Hermes' interrogation would be over sooner if he just gave him what he wanted... an answer.  
"He pretty much... told me that... I was never... getting out of here... not as long... as he was the... king of Olympus." Hades muttered darkly, his breath beginning to quicken again at the memory.  
"Whoa easy Hades, easy." Hermes tried to soothe the elder god, gently patting his shoulder while Pain and Panic began to fret again.  
"Come on, try to drink a little more of this." Hermes placed the glass to Hades' lips once more. Hades obediently began to sip at the Ambrosia, trying his best to blink back the moisture that had begun to gather at the corners of his eyes again.  
 _'Why am I so weak and pathetic.'_ Hades thought to himself, doing his best to keep in control.  
Hermes couldn't help but look at Hades with pity, Zeus had pretty much kicked the guy when he was already down; down as far as anyone could get, the Underworld was that last stop after all.  
 _'Hera's not going to be happy when I report in next, hope she doesn't shoot the messenger.'_ Hermes thought to himself, a little worried at what the Queen's reaction might be.

Hades finished the glass of Ambrosia and settled back into the pillows behind him, finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes open. Normally a God wouldn't need sleep, but with how drained he was Hades' body was desperately craving rest.  
"You want any more?" Hermes asked the weary god, receiving a small head shake in response.  
"Alright then. Hey you two." Hermes attracted the attention of Pain and Panic.  
"Pay attention. Half a glass of Ambrosia every three to four hours for the next two days. Let him sleep if he's tired and don't force him to drink the whole thing if he feels as though he's just gonna throw it up again." He instructed the two imps who nodded in understanding.  
"And you! Sleep or just lay there I don't care which, but I don't want you getting out of that bed for at least the next twenty four hours, **bare minimum** babe." Hermes said sternly.  
"No arguing babe. You NEED to rest and recover." He cut Hades off just as the other opened his mouth to protest.  
"Alright, I gotta go or Zeus will have my hide. I'll be back later to check in, oh and boys, could you take care of this for me?" Hermes handed the imps the parchment-work for the soul he'd dropped off a while ago.   
"Stay in bed Hades, I mean it. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can." Hermes said once more before dashing off, hoping that Zeus had yet to discover his delay in returning to Olympus.

Pain and Panic enthusiastically waved goodbye to the messenger god, and once he was out of sight they turned back to their master who was struggling to keep his eyes open.  
"Don't fight it big guy." Pain spoke as he and his brother walked across the bed to sit next to Hades.  
"Yeah, Hermes said you needed to rest so take a nap. We'll keep an eye on things while you sleep." Panic persuaded the nodding off god.  
"Yeah don't you worry about a thing, we've got this." Promised Pain patting Hades on the arm.  
Hades merely grunted unbelievingly, knowing the imps wouldn't be able to handle any real emergencies, but not having the energy to really care at that point.  
Finally he gave up fighting his exhaustion, allowing his eyes to slip closed; falling into a deep sleep almost instantly.

* * *

  
It was evening when Hermes exited the Underworld flying low and fast towards Mt Olympus, trying to make up for lost time he sped past mortals appearing as nothing more than a blue blur.  
Suddenly he had to swerve to miss what appeared to be another god.  
Managing to avoid the collision he stopped and looked back to see who it was he'd almost crashed into.  
"Asclepius babe, that you?" He asked as he hovered back over to the surprised god that had thrown himself to the ground to avoid Hermes. Guiltily Hermes helped the medicinal god up.  
"Hermes would you do me a favour and watch where you're going next time... and maybe fly a little higher too." He chastised the messenger god not unkindly.  
"Sorry about that, there's some strong headwinds up higher and I was kind of in a hurry." He apologized sincerely.  
"Well there was no harm done, so don't let me keep you." Asclepius quickly forgave the small god.  
"Hey how come you're back down here? I thought the epidemic was over." Hermes asked curiously.  
"So did I and the mortal healers, but it looks like it may be starting up again. Someone infected must have travelled northwards... I hope it doesn't get as bad as the first time." Explained the medicinal god.  
"Yeah I totally get that... Oh hey before you go babe can I ask something."   
"I suppose I can spare a few minutes." Asclepius mused, Hermes had never asked him anything before and it made him curious.  
"Well I have some 'friends' who have a 'friend' that had a sort of funny fit, not the ha ha kind mind you, but anyway I thought you might be able to tell me what it was." Hermes said mysteriously, doing his best to be as vague as possible.  
"Well if you can describe the symptoms I may be able to." The medicinal god replied, very curious now. Just who was Hermes talking about, some mortal friends perhaps; it was no secret that the small blue god befriended the odd human every now and then.  
"Okay, so get this. This friend of my friends felt like he couldn't catch his breath, he couldn't keep his balance and seemed really upset and wouldn't or couldn't respond to his friends... oh and I also found out later that he hadn't had any nourishment for a while..." Hermes trailed off, not quite able to meet the medicinal god's eyes while trying not to give away who he was talking about.  
"Hmmm, well just to clarify did this friend of a friend have any sort of fear that was triggered? Or maybe a bad confrontation with another friend or family member?" Asclepius asked while connecting the dots in his head. He had found it very strange how Hermes had said nourishment and not food, so maybe he wasn't talking about a mortal; perhaps it was another Immortal.  
"Um... yeah, he'd apparently had an argument with his brother that didn't go too well for him, in't that too nutty, how'd you know?" Hermes replied vaguely.  
"Just a hunch. Well as for your friend of a friend's fit my best guess would be a panic attack, compounded with the fact he'd apparently not taken any nourishment for a 'while'." Asclepius replied.  
"Yeah... so what's a panic attack? I've never heard of it." Hermes asked with concern.  
"Well the simplest way I can describe it would be that a Panic attack is a sudden onset of fear, they usually have some sort of trigger and can be linked to other underlying conditions; But I doubt either of us have the time to go into depth on the issue." Asclepius tried to explain in the simplest terms still managing to confuse Hermes who had never heard of the disorder before.  
"Um Okay... so you're saying you think this panic attack thing was triggered by his argument with his brother?" Hermes replied trying to clarify what Asclepius was telling him.  
"Yes, also his state of malnourishment would have contributed to his collapse. I'm sorry Hermes but I must go, I hope I have at least helped a little." Asclepius bade the messenger goodbye.  
"Yes thank you Asclepius you were helpful, I'd better be going too babe. Good luck out there." Hermes replied before dashing off again, this time climbing higher into the sky as Mt Olympus came into view.  
 _'Well this is going to be a mess to explain to Hera.'_ Hermes mused to himself breaking out into a nervous sweat.  
The small blue god broke through the clouds shielding Olympus from the mortals view and took in the sight of other gods milling about in the warm evening summer air. High above them all at the very top of Olympus Hermes knew Hera would be waiting for him, his natural instinct telling him exactly where to find the queen.  
With a gulp Hermes made a beeline for her, hoping that she'd be alone so he could report his distressing news about Hades' current condition. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had trouble writing this one, and it still feels a little disjointed; but it's done and on time.
> 
> So I sort of have a head-cannon where due to his job and natural instinct's Hermes can find anyone, anywhere, anytime he wants to.
> 
> And now for a clarification note or two:
> 
> Ichor - The blood of the Gods
> 
> So from what my research has told me it was thought that the Greek gods didn't have blood running through their veins but a substance known as Ichor, it was supposed to be an almost clear substance, but in the Disney Hercules show when Hercules has to have a blood test for the big games his blood was a gold colour so I'm going with the gold colour for the gods Ichor/Blood.
> 
> Titan Prison Pit
> 
> The five Titans released in the movie were only a few of the previous generation of gods, in the myths after the Titanomachy _(The ten year war of Olympians & allies Vs the Titans)_ most of the Titans were sealed away in a pit in Tartarus.  
> Though some Titans were spared this fate such as the hundred handers who became the guards for the pit, or Nyx and a few others who sided with the six Olympian siblings.  
> Though when it comes to fate of the siblings father Cronus some sources say he was sealed away with the other Titans and in other sources he's sealed away alone in the darkest pit of Tartarus.
> 
> As always enjoy, or not; whatever works for you.

* * *

Hera was looking out at the stars when the sound of winged sandals attracted her attention. Looking over her shoulder she found a grim looking Hermes floating a little ways away from her.   
"Hermes, oh I am glad to see you." Hera exclaimed happily until she took notice of Hermes grim expression.  
"Hermes what ever is the matter? Did something happen? Is it Hades? Is he alright?" She bombarded the small god with question causing him to back up nervously.  
"Erm, maybe you should sit down M'lady. We have quite a bit to talk about." Hermes replied floating over to a comfortable looking cloud bench.  
"Hermes you're scarring me, what's happened?" Hera asked as she sat down next to the younger god.  
"Well to start off with I don't want you to panic babe, cause I've taken care of the situation for now." Hermes tried to brace Queen Hera for his report.  
"Hermes please, just tell me what's happened." She replied outwardly calm, inside she was both desperate for his news and terrified as to what Hermes may be about to tell her.  
"Alright babe, just remember, don't shoot the messenger." He replied, bracing himself for the worst.  
"While I was on my way to Hades' palace his minions Pain and Panic just about knocked me out of the sky, they were in a right state; desperate for my help." Hermes began his report, Hera hanging on his every word.  
"They told me the H man had collapsed, and I couldn't just leave without checking up on him; even if there was a small possibility of it being a trap. So they literally dragged me off to the palace where I found Hades out cold on the floor of his throne room. The imps claimed he'd had a strange fit, I spoke to Asclepius, described the fit to him and he reckoned it was something called a panic attack. I also found out that Hades hadn't had any Ambrosia for roughly two months the **fool**."  
Despite her horror at finding out her younger brother hadn't taken any sustenance for so long she couldn't help a small smile at seeing Hermes get steamed up over it, glad that Hades still had a few of the other gods that cared about him.  
"So I got the imps to fetch some and I helped him drink it. Then we transferred Hades to his bedroom and got him settled in bed. Though trying to get him to tell me what happened was like pulling teeth, that cat is too stubborn for his own good sometimes." Hermes said exasperatedly.  
"Did you find out what had caused this panic attack?" Asked Hera with concern.  
"Yeah... I think. It sort of happened after Hades and Zeus argued, apparently Hades had called Zeus down there to find out how long his confinement was gonna last. I did ask if Zeus had hit him but according to Hades he didn't..." Hermes trailed off.  
All of his duties and racing about, along with the day's drama had worn him out, he was ready for a long nap.

Hera's heart ached at the thought of her brother suffering so much, but was glad Hermes had been around to help him.  
"So he's alright now?" She asked with concern, causing Hermes to smile gently.  
"Well Hades was still pretty weak when I left him, but so long as he rests I think he should be fine babe." Hermes replied before a sudden crack of thunder alerted them to Zeus' presence.  
" **HERMES**! I forbade you and everyone else any contact with Hades!" He raged, storming up to the two seated gods.  
Hera stood quickly, her own temper flaring.  
"Hades had collapsed! Was Hermes supposed to just ignore him and leave without trying to help!?" She snapped at her unreasonable husband.  
" **YES**! It was most likely just a trick anyway, just trying to play on Hermes' good nature and get a bit of sympathy from him." Zeus snarled back with disdain for his elder brother.

For the first time in an age Hermes was mad. He flew right up into Zeus's face, his own face red as a tomato; a ferocious scowl on his face.  
"Are you outta your mind!? It was **NO** trick! Hades was so weak he'd almost slipped into a state of hibernation, some gods never come back from that! They sleep until they just fade away. And who's fault was it that he'd collapsed in the first place? **YOURS**!" Hermes raged at the elder god, Zeus' thunderous scowl turning murderous.  
"So you're working with Hades now are you!? In that case you're forbidden to enter the Underworld now too!" Zeus snarled swiping at Hermes causing him to have to back-pedal in surprise to avoid being struck, bumping right into Hera who caught him; helping the messenger god steady himself.  
"What! NO, you can't do that! I, I've got souls to escort, and I promised Hades I'd be back to check in on him." Hermes cried in dismay.  
"Zeus think about what you are doing!" Hera joined Hermes in his protest.  
" **MY DECISION IS FINAL**!" Roared Zeus, thunder crashing and lighting flashing around them in response to the thunder god's rage.  
With a final threatening glare Zeus stalked off, leaving the two stunned gods alone, trembling.

"We have to do something, I promised Hades I'd be back. What's he going to think when I don't show up? He'll think I lied." Hermes appealed to Queen Hera.  
"I'm sorry Hermes but until Zeus cools off I don't think we can do anything... but maybe..." Hera trailed off in thought.  
"What? What is it M'lady?" Hermes asked impatiently.  
"I'm not sure if it'll work, I'll have to talk to a few of the others to be sure." She replied.  
"Hermes, you said that Hades had called Zeus down to the Underworld to find out how long his confinement would last; did Hades happen to tell you the answer to that?" Hera asked the pouting messenger god.  
"Erm, well kinda. He didn't tell me exactly what Zeus said, but apparently Zeus implied that Hades was never getting out of the Underworld again." Hermes replied hesitantly.  
"Oh dear, what a mess this is." Hera lamented before casting a concerned look at Hermes, appraising his condition.  
"Hermes dear, I think you should go and rest. Have some Ambrosia, we don't want Hades' bad habits rubbing off on you now do we?" She instructed the younger god, gently cupping his face with her hand to make him look her in the eye.  
"It'll be alright Hermes, we'll figure it out. We won't abandon Hades. Now please go rest."  
Hermes nodded silently in reply, still not happy with how things had blown up.  
"Yes M'lady, please don't hesitate to call if you need me." He bade the queen goodnight before slowly floating off to his home.

* * *

  
In the underworld souls were starting to arrive, new victims of the epidemic.  
"What do we do now? We can't process these souls." Panic fretted as he and his brother organized the souls into an orderly line to await processing.  
"Yeah I know, but at least there's not as many as before." Pain replied as he finished lining up his half of the souls, beginning to walk away.  
"H hey! Where are you going!?" Panic whined as he struggled to line up his group of souls.  
"To go check on the boss, it must be past time for his Ambrosia. Hermes did say every three to four hours." He replied over his shoulder.  
"Yeah well Hermes also said to let him sleep, so don't wake him up if he's still sleeping!" Panic cried out, Pain waving over his shoulder in response.

  
  
Pain gently knocked on Hades' bedroom door before poking his head through the doorway.  
Soft snores came from inside the dimly lit room, Hades still in a deep sleep.  
Slowly Pain crept into the room, sneaking up to the bed he used his tiny wings to fly up onto it.   
Carefully as not to wake Hades he approached his sleeping master, he began to study the sleeping god; noting with satisfaction that Hades' face had finally healed.  
Quietly he jumped off of the bed and snuck out of the room once again, gently shutting the door behind him.

  
  
Panic sighed with relief as he finally managed to corral the uncooperative souls into a line, just in time for his brother Pain to reappear.  
"Hey, so how's the boss?"  
"Still sleeping, but his face has finally healed." Pain replied optimistically.  
"Oh good, sooo... um, when do you think we should tell him about all these souls arriving?" Panic asked as he scratched his head, looking at the slowly growing line of souls.  
"Well Hermes didn't want Hades to get out of bed for at least twenty four hours, so we should at least wait until then." Pain replied.  
"Alright then, I guess we just keep lining them up for now." Panic agreed.  
"So how long do we actually have to keep lining them up for?" Asked pain, suddenly realizing that he had no idea exactly how long it had been since Hermes had given them their instructions.  
"Um, let me think... Hermes was here about five hours ago, sooo... minus that, carry the one... Oh! The answer is Nineteen!" Panic exclaimed after a few minutes of furious thinking.  
"Minutes?" Pain asked hopefully.  
"Hours." Panic clarified, dashing his brother's hopes.  
"You mean we gotta keep lining them up for the next Nineteen hours? We're gonna run out of room!" Pain exclaimed frustratedly, Panic shrugging in response.

* * *

  
With morning came a large number of tasks for Hermes to complete, he was up dressed and ready to go not long after sunrise; but unusually for him still felt the fatigue of the previous day.  
He wasn't the only one up early, flying above Olympus he could see Queen Hera already talking to various Olympians, those more sympathetic towards Hades; and others who didn't really approve of isolating one of their own as punishment.  
Hermes let out a large yawn, stretching trying to shake off his drowsiness before zipping off to complete task one on his long to do list of the day.

  
  
The sun high in the sky found Hermes still zipping about delivering messages to both Immortals and Mortals alike, he also had to drop a few wayward souls off at the gates to the underworld; he himself unable to enter after Zeus' rage the previous night.  
Finally he found himself over a large Grecian city, one newly afflicted by the epidemic; the gates had been barred and no one was allowed in or out.  
It was here Hermes would find Asclepius whom Hera had given Hermes an important message to deliver, and instructions to honestly answer Asclepius if the medicinal god asked the identity of his mystery friend.  
Following his instincts Hermes easily found the other god within the sprawling city.  
"Hey Asclepius, babe. I got a message for you!" He cried out as he neared the weary medicinal god.  
"Hermes, busy as usual I see." Asclepius greeted the smaller god as he took the offered scroll.  
"Yeah, no rest for the messenger of the gods today. Oh by the way, I'm supposed to wait for a reply to that." Replied Hermes as he continued to float near the other god.  
"Really? I'd best read it now then, I suppose I can take a break; the mortals have almost gotten things under control... for a change." Muttered the weary medicinal god as he settled himself down on some nearby steps to read.  
"By the way Hermes, how's that friend of your friends doing?" He asked surprising Hermes with the question.  
"Oh, uh... well I don't know. I can't really go visit him right now. Zeus forbade it." Hermes replied bitterly.  
"Hrm, so I was right then..." Trailed off Asclepius while reading his scroll.  
"What was that babe?"  
"It took me a while to figure it out, but I guessed your friend of your friends was an immortal so had my suspicions of who it might be. you telling me that Zeus has forbidden you to see them again just confirmed my suspicions. It's Hades, right?" Asclepius explained, looking up at a stunned Hermes. For a few moments the messenger god was stuck in stunned silence, then after giving himself a shake finally answered the other god.  
"Yeah, it's Hades. And to be honest I'm still really worried about him." He answered truthfully, genuinely worried about how Hades was doing.  
"That doesn't surprise me, especially with what you told me last time; and it appears Queen Hera is of the same mind." Asclepius answered as he began to write a response to the scroll he had just finished reading.   
  


Hermes idly floated nearby, allowing the other god to write his letter in peace.   
His mind kept wandering back to Hades and how he was doing, and wondering if Pain and Panic had remembered to keep giving him Ambrosia to drink.  
A few more minutes of quiet passed before Asclepius drew Hermes attention to himself, handing the smaller god a new scroll to add to his deliveries.  
"Here this should suffice for a reply. I most likely won't be able to return to Olympus for at least a few more days, unfortunately almost all of the mortals infected before I arrived will die; I hope Hades will be well enough to handle them all." He stated seriously, observing Hermes.  
"And I'd suggest you take a break soon. Being an immortal god won't stop you from collapsing from exhaustion, take care of yourself Hermes; I must get back to work." Asclepius bade farewell to Hermes, focusing back on his work.  
"Yeah Asclepius, thanks for the heads up babe. I'll see you back on Olympus in a few days then." Hermes called out in goodbye to the swiftly moving medicinal god before taking to the skies, once more on his way to his next destination.

* * *

  
Panic crept into Hades' room, clambering onto the bed to check on his master.  
Once satisfied that Hades was still alright he turned to quietly sneak out of the room once more, only making it as far as the edge of the bed when a voice stopped him in his tracks.  
"Panic, that you?" Hades asked groggily, the light in the room slowly brightening as the god awoke.  
"Uh yes boss, Panic reporting for duty." Panic smartly saluted and stood to attention facing his master  
"So I see, where's Pain?" The still groggy god asked the increasingly nervous imp.  
"Ngh, well... he's busy doing something, but should be here any minute now." Panic replied, sending a silent SOS to his brother. A minute passed and Pain ported himself just outside Hades' door, knocking and poking his head through the doorway.  
"Pain reporting for duty." He saluted from the doorway.  
"Come in Pain." Hades gave permission to the magenta imp to enter his room.  
Pain quickly scampered into the room and clambered up onto the bed with some help from Panic.  
"Hey uh boss, how ya' feelin'?" Pain asked once he was by his master's side.  
"Better... still tired, but better." Hades answered honestly, sighing in frustration at not being able to shake off his fatigue.  
"We'll pour you some Ambrosia, it's really past time that Hermes said you should have some... think you can stomach a full one?" Pain asked as Panic grabbed the Ambrosia and glass from the bedside table.  
"I suppose... just how long have I been asleep for boys?" Asked Hades as he struggled into a sitting position.  
"About ten hours sir." Panic answered while slowly pouring the Ambrosia in the glass Pain was now holding.  
"Ten hours? Wowza I must've needed that nap. Anything happen while I was out?" Hades was surprised at just how long he'd slept for, usually only sleeping for four or five hours if he was lucky; there was a reason why he always seemed to have bags under his eyes.  
"Nothing much, just a few new arrivals; they should be fine for another fourteen hours or so." Pain answered offhandedly as he passed the now full glass to Hades.  
"Fourteen hours?" The god asked before taking a small sip from the glass.  
"Well... Hermes did say you needed to stay in bed for at least twenty-four hours sir." Panic answered nervously as he put the decanter back on the bedside table.  
"Right... right... _*sigh*_ " Hades murmured absent-mindedly sipping on his Ambrosia.  
  


A comfortable silence fell over the room as the imps waited patiently for their master to finish his drink.   
Hades stared at the far wall of his room lost in thought, after a few minutes he decided he'd had enough of the Ambrosia he was sipping on and handed the glass back to Pain; yawning loudly as his fatigue began to weigh heavily on him once more.  
Both imps frowned at the glass Pain was now holding, still a quarter full of the rich plum liquid. Pain carefully crept over to the bedside table, setting the glass down next to the decanter before returning to Hades' side.  
Hades yawned loudly again, settling back down under his blanket mumbling sleepily.  
"I'm gonna take another nap, wake me if you need me boys."  
"Okay boss." The two imps replied in unison before jumping off their master's bed, the god already in a deep sleep once more.  
  


Sneaking out of the room they gently shut the door behind themselves.  
"Do you you really think we can hold out for another Fourteen hours? The Souls are already lined up all the way to the dock" Panic asked, wringing his tail in anxiety.  
"Well we're just gonna have to. You saw Hades, he could barely keep his eyes open." Pain replied as the two imps made their way to the growing line of souls.  
"Yeah I know, but things are starting to get out of hand. The souls may be arriving slower than last time, but still we can't keep lining them up forever." Panic whined.  
"Not forever, just fourteen more hours... though the boss won't be happy when he sees this line." Pain sighed in despair at the long line of mortal souls.  
"Yeah, hopefully he won't smite us too badly." Panic replied fearfully, pain nodding in agreement.

* * *

  
Over the next few hours the line of souls grew and grew, until finally it reached the surface.  
Mortal souls milled about the entrance in small groups, an invisible force preventing them from straying too far.  
Living mortals soon noticed the souls, most keeping their distance; but a few of the braver mortals ventured closer and even struck up conversation with some of the dead.  
Not long after this the inhabitants of Mt Olympus began to take note of the bizarre occurrence at the entrance to the Underworld.  
A gathering of gods peered down through the clouds, watching the events unfold curiously.

"What in the cosmos is going on down there?" Asked Athena.  
"You don't think Zeus messed up his barrier do you?" Mused Ares.  
"Oh I hope Hades is alright." A deeply concerned Hera stated.  
"I've never seen this happen before." Apollo said gravely.  
Many other gods began chipping in, each stating his or her opinion until Zeus took note of the group of gods; curious as to what was so fascinating on earth he approached the group.  
"What's all this then? Are the mortals doing something interesting?" He asked before leaning over the shoulders of the other gods to see what was happening. His expression of curiosity quickly changing to a scowl, thunder sounding in the distance.  
"Now dear, calm down. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation as to what's going on." Hera tried to calm Zeus before he exploded, to no avail. The sky darkened and Zeus snarled at Hera.  
"You want an explanation! He's **sulking** , Hades is **sulking**! He can't take his punishment like a god so now he's ignoring his duties and sulking!"  
"I'm sure that's not it, if we just wait..." Hera began only to be cut off by Zeus.  
"Silence! I'll take care of this myself." He snapped with a dangerous glint in his eyes.  
"Zeus, please wait!" Hera yelled before with a clap of thunder Zeus disappeared in a swirl of storm grey clouds.  
" _*sigh*_ I'm sure now you all see what I meant by Zeus being unreasonable in regards to Hades." She sighed in frustration.  
Some of the gods nodded in agreement while a few others looked unsure, still undecided as to who they should side with; Zeus or Hera.

* * *

  
Zeus appeared in the still half destroyed throne room of the Underworld palace, a line of souls could bee seen through the doorway.  
" **HADES!** " He roared, becoming even more enraged when he received no response to his summons.  
Storming out of the throne room he began to search every room he came upon, not noticing the terrified imps lurking in the shadows behind him; too terrified to make their presence known or to let the enraged god out of their sight.  
Eventually Zeus found his way to Hades' chambers, storming into them unannounced; searching every nook and cranny for his brother until he stood in-front of the bedroom doors.  
Throwing open the doors he was greeted with the sight of Hades in bed in a deep sleep, he stormed up to his brother and grabbed him by the front of his chiton.  
" **HADES!** " He snarled shaking the other god awake.  
"Huh!? Wha!? What's going on? Z Zeus? W what are you doing here?" Hades awoke disoriented and dizzy with being woken so abruptly.  
"What's going on? I'll show you what's going on you lazy good for nothing!" Zeus snapped, dragging Hades out of his bed, through the hallways until he reached the long line of waiting souls.  
He slammed Hades against the nearest wall, causing nearby souls to scatter; giving the two deities as much room as possible. The souls watched the scene unfold before them with confusion and fear, not sure who to be more scared of; Hades or Zeus.

"Do you see this mess your sulking has caused!? This line goes all the way to the surface!" He snarled at the surprised Hades, not once loosening his grip on his brother's chiton.  
"What are you talking about? I haven't been sulking, and I had no idea about this... Gah!" Hades began only to receive another backhand to his recently healed face.  
"Don't lie to me Hades! I've had enough of your tricks and lies." Snapped Zeus impatiently, refusing to even consider the possibility that Hades was telling the truth.  
Hades was left reeling after the blow to his face, a shiver of fear working it's way up his spine. If he was at full strength he'd be able to put up a decent fight against Zeus, maybe even force a draw; but he wasn't at full strength, he wasn't quite at half strength either.  
This knowledge caused him to begin to fear the outcome of this altercation at the hands of his youngest brother, his breath beginning to shorten with his growing panic.  
"Zeus I swear I didn't know about this, I wasn't sulking, I was... ehgurk!" Hades was cut off as Zeus released his hold on Hades' chiton only to grab him by the throat and backhanding him across the face again.  
"I said don't lie to me." He growled into Hades' face, watching as his elder brother scrabbled madly at his hand trying to release the vice grip from his throat.

Zeus proceeded to drag Hades by the throat down the corridor to his office.  
He threw Hades through the doorway of the office, the back of Hades' skull cracking against the stone desk before he crumpled to the floor in an undignified heap.  
Dazed and terrified Hades struggled to stay conscious, his vision blurring at the edges as he looked up at his brother from the floor.  
"Don't think you can't be replaced Hades. Perhaps I should give Hecate that chance to run the Underworld she's always begging for." Zeus stated coldly as he looked down his nose at the other god trembling at his feet.  
"Y you can't! y you wouldn't..." Hades trailed off unsurely, still unable to rise from the floor.  
"I **can** and I **will** , unless you knuckle down and fall in line. Otherwise the Underworld will get a new ruler and you can join the titans in their prison pit." Replied Zeus cruelly before turning on his heel and stalking away, terrified souls leaping out of his way as he stalked to the throne room and disappeared once more in a swirl of grey storm clouds.

With Zeus gone Pain and Panic rushed into Hades' office, running to their master's side and fretting about him with worry.  
"A are you alright Sir?" Panic asked as he knelt next to the barely conscious god.  
"C'mon say something big guy." Pain pleaded kneeling alongside his brother.  
Hades found it harder and harder to stay conscious, the room around him growing dimmer and the voices of his minions growing fainter until darkness claimed him once more.

"Aww man, I think he's really hurt this time." Pain whined as he noticed the small smear of ichor on the edge of the desk where Hades' head had struck.  
"Ohhh, you're right, he's bleeding back here." Panic agreed as he leaned over Hades, checking his master's injuries and spying ichor slowly oozing from a wound on the back of his head.  
"What do we do now?" Pain asked as he rummaged around a rarely used cupboard in the corner of the office pulling out a soft blanket.  
"I dunno, but we have to make it look like Hades' has started working or Zeus will come back down." Panic replied anxiously as he helped his brother wrap the blanket around their unconscious master.  
"Okay then, how about we start moving the soul line into the throne room, we can zigzag it around the room so we can fit more souls in." Suggested Pain  
"Ngh, oh alright. But are you sure it'll be alright to leave the boss alone?" Panic replied as he checked Hades once again.  
"He's an immortal god, the boss won't die. The best thing we can do for him right now is to buy him as much time to heal as we can." Pain assured his fretting brother, gently tugging at the other's tail.  
Panic nodded in agreement and reluctantly left their master's side, scampering after his brother.  
"You go tell Charon what's going on and I'll start moving the souls." Pain shouted over his shoulder as they ran.  
"Alright, I'll be back as soon as I can." Panic replied as the two imps parted ways.

* * *

  
The story about the one-sided fight between Zeus and Hades spread like wildfire throughout the line of waiting souls, already reaching the docks beneath the palace before Panic arrived.  
Charon stood in his half full boat listening to the story with growing concern, he had felt the presence of Zeus in the Underworld but was unable to leave the souls unattended at the dock; and with the dock full he was unable to finish unloading his boat.  
Movement on the steps drew his attention away from the gossiping souls as Panic rushed down the stairs, barely avoiding tripping and falling down them.  
"Charon, Charon! Look I know you're boat is still half full and the dock is full but I need you to go back over and get more souls." Panic hastily stated as he reached the edge of the dock.  
The silent ferryman cocked his head to one side, thumping his punt on the bottom of his boat in displeasure demanding a better explanation.  
"Ohhh, look Charon Pain and I are gonna make more room for the souls by the time you get back I swear." Panic pleaded. He could feel a piercing stare coming from the seemingly eyeballess boatman.  
"Gah! Okay okay I get it, you want to know why. Well Zeus was down here just now and he attacked Hades, he's hurt and we need to buy him some time to heal, but if Zeus sees the line that's reached the surface not moving he'll be back down here in a flash, and he'll replace Hades with Hecate and throw Hades into the Titan Prison Pit." Panic explained so fast that if Charon wasn't used to the imp he wouldn't have understood, instead he nodded silently in understanding before shoving off from the docks heading back over the Styx for more souls.

  
  
Once Charon had safely docked the boat on the other side of the Styx he began loading more souls, and while they waited the souls who had been to the other side and back began to tell the others the story of Zeus and Hades' one-sided fight.  
The story continued to spread quickly, soon reaching the surface and the mortals who had been brave enough to speak to the dead.  
However the stories surprised and confused the mortals, both dead and alive.  
They had all been taught that Zeus was the wise and fair ruler of the gods, while Hades was the dark and powerful god of the dead. And yet here was Hades cowering before an enraged Zeus as he attacked the seemingly defenseless lord of the Underworld.  
Had what they been taught wrong? Was Zeus truly a wise and just ruler? And was Hades really a dark god meant to be feared? Perhaps they had been fearing the wrong god all along, perhaps Zeus was a Titan tyrant like his father before him and he should be the one they feared.  
As the group of souls disappeared into the underworld the gathered mortals also wandered off. Some going to work, others home; and others still to the nearest bar or eatery, regaling the other patrons with the story told to them by the dead from the underworld.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright this chapter marks the end of the epidemic in the story, no more working the underworld boys to death.
> 
> And I think we may be at the halfway mark... I could be wrong though, will have to wait and see how the future chapters go.
> 
> As always enjoy, or not; whatever works for you.

* * *

Hades woke with a groan, his head pounding.  
Slowly he sat upright vaguely aware of a blanket falling off of him. Rubbing the back of his head he found a tender-spot, pulling back his hand he found the remnants of dried ichor.  
_'That would explain the headache... and why the room seems to be moving.'_ Hades thought to himself before using the desk to haul himself to his feet, it was only then that he noticed that he wasn't alone in his office; a very nervous looking mortal soul stood opposite him.  
"I suppose you're waiting to be processed?" He asked the nervous mortal, receiving a timid nod in response.  
With a sigh Hades continued to use the desk for support as he staggered to his chair, the mortal's parchment-work already sitting on his desk waiting to be reviewed.  
With a groan he sank down into his chair, leaning back with his eyes closed; trying to will the room to stop moving.  
Two minutes of awkward silence passed before Hades felt steady enough to open his eyes and focus his attention on the parchment before him, beginning to process what looked to be another long endless line of souls.  
  


* * *

  
  
"Hey Panic." Pain tried to get his brother's attention as he watched the line of souls closely.  
"What?" Panic grumped back, the stress and lack of sleep getting to him.  
"Does the line look like it's moving?" Asked Pain deciding to ignore his brother's grumping.  
"Of course it's moving, these souls won't stop moving about. That's why it's so hard to keep them in line." Panic replied exasperatedly without turning around.  
"No. I mean **moving**." Insisted Pain.  
"Whaaat? I think you're loosing it brother." Panic dragged his feet as he came to stand next to his brother.  
"Oh just watch the line will ya!" Pain finally snapped, gaining a filthy look from Panic in response; but the teal imp did as his brother asked and watched the line.  
A minute or two passed with nothing happening, Panic was about to snap at Pain for wasting time when suddenly he saw it... the line moved forward.  
"You're right, it **is** moving!" He exclaimed. "But that would mean..." Panic trailed off turning to his brother, the two imps shared a look before shouting in unison.  
"The boss is awake!"  
  
  
The two imps scampered off towards the office as fast as their legs would carry them, making a quick side trip to Hades' bedroom before arriving.  
They peaked around the door, their heads the only thing showing as they watched their master ceaselessly process the mortal souls.  
With an audible gulp they cautiously entered the office and up to Hades' side.  
"Uh, hey big guy, we see that you're up." Pain stated awkwardly.  
"Y yeah, um... we thought that you might be thirsty so we brought this with us." Panic said as he held up the Ambrosia Decanter for Hades to see.  
Hades turned to look at the two nervous imps, the sight of the Ambrosia caused his stomach to churn unpleasantly, a wave of nausea accompanying bile rising in his throat.  
Through force of will Hades swallowed both down, refusing to appear weaker than he already was.  
"Not now boys, I'm not thirsty." He waved them away, turning his focus back on the parchment-work in front of him.  
"Please boss." Panic pleaded.  
"Yeah, please, we don't wanna see you collapse again." Pain stated with worry.  
"Yeah, that was scary." Panic agreed as he and his brother stared at Hades pleadingly.  
"Oi Vey, you two aren't gonna leave me alone unless I agree, aren't ya?" Hades groaned in frustration, the two imps nodding furiously in reply.  
"Okay, fine. You two win, but just a half, I'm not thirsty." He relented, the two imps instantly perking up carefully pouring him half a glass of Ambrosia.  
Pain handed the glass to Hades who took it and was about to place it on the desk untouched until he noticed the disapproving stares he was receiving from his imps.  
With a sigh of frustration he instead rose the glass to his lips and took a small sip before placing it down on his desk, giving the two imps a pointed glare before going back to his parchment-work.  
  
  
Pain and Panic were hardly satisfied with such a small sip but decided to not press the issue, instead leaving the office to check on the line and make sure no one was trying to take cutsies.  
  


* * *

Hermes slowly flew through a busy Grecian town, the afternoon sun pleasantly warm on his tired boy; all around him mortals were going about their day unfazed by the presence of the messenger god.  
While flying past an Inn Hermes heard something that made him stop dead in his tracks.  
A mortal man sitting at a table outside the Inn was telling a story, the other mortals around him hanging on his every word.  
"... and then Zeus started choking the Lord of the dead his hands wrapped around his throat, the Lord of the dead unable to break his grasp as Zeus began to drag him to another room..." The man continued his tale dramatically before being interrupted by another man.  
"Tell us another one. There's no way that Lord of the underworld just let the mighty Zeus beat him up." The man snarked not believing a word of the story.  
"It's all true, I heard this straight from one of those wandering souls that were hanging around the entrance to the underworld earlier today." The story teller defended his story.  
  
  
Slowly Hermes approached the group of mortals and spoke.  
"I for one would like to hear the rest of this cats story, and perhaps the start of it too."  
The effect was instantaneous, the mortals bowing before the floating god offering reverence and praise fearing they were about to be smited.  
"Alright, alright. That's enough of that, now you, mortal; you said you spoke to some souls outside the Underworld entrance?" Hermes turned his attention solely to the man who had been telling the story.  
"Y yes Lord Hermes." The mortal man promptly answered the god's question.  
"Alright, then I need you to tell me what the soul told you; an abridged version is fine, I'm kinda in a hurry here." The impatient messenger god instructed the anxious mortal.  
"Yes Lord Hermes, of course. The soul told the story to myself and a few other mortals. It told us that the mighty Lord Zeus suddenly appeared in the underworld seeking the Lord of the Underworld, upon finding him Lord Zeus apparently threw the Lord of the underworld into a wall and proceeded to attack him even strangling him at on point; then proceeded to drag him to another room where he threw him into a large stone desk where the Lord of the underworld was said to have lain still upon the ground, according to the soul it had been a one-sided fight where it appeared the Lord of the underworld had been unable or unwilling to defend himself." The mortal man hastily told a very abridged version of the tale he had been in the middle of telling the other mortals.  
Hermes took a deep breath, trying to avoid showing his true feelings in front of the mortals.  
"Alright thanks, I gotta go, things to do places to be; ciao babe." Hermes dismissed the man before taking off into the sky once more appearing as nothing more than a blue blur, racing to reach Mt Olympus.  
  
  
  
A few minutes later Hermes skidded to a halt above Olympus, scanning the divine realm for Queen Hera; his instincts telling him she was nearby. Spying her he dived down coming to a stop right behind the goddess.  
"M'lady Queen." He called out to gain her attention.  
"Oh Hermes, you're back early. Did you Asclepius give you a scroll for me?" She asked the smaller god.  
"Yes but..." Hermes began. handing the Queen the scroll Asclepius had given him.  
"Excellent, I was hoping to get his reply today." She exclaimed happily receiving the scroll and immediately beginning to read it.  
"M'lady please this is important." Hermes beseeched the goddess.  
"Hermes dear, what ever is the matter?" She asked, finally giving he messenger god her full attention.  
"There's a story going around the mortals that they got from a group of souls outside the Underworld..." Her began growing frustrated as he was interrupted again.  
"Yes we saw those souls and a few mortals who dared to speak to them." Hera stated idly, not sure what story from the Underworld would rattle Hermes so.  
"Well the souls were passing along a story of Zeus attacking Hades down in the Underworld." Hermes finished his report to the gasps of gods who had gathered to see why Hermes was so upset.  
"What?" Hera gasped out, speechless for a few minutes before her gaze hardened and she shouted.  
" **ZEEUUSSS!** "  
  
Suddenly appearing at his wife's furious summons Zeus stood arms crossed, obviously unhappy at the sudden summoning.  
"Do you mind Hera, I was right in the middle of a divine intervention." He grumped at his wife.  
"How could you!?" She shrieked at him.  
"What? Divine interventions are a part of the job." Zeus replied confused.  
"Gruuhhh, Primordials give me strength... Zeus how could you attack your brother? He was weak, unwell; and you attacked him." She cried out in frustration as more gods were drawn to the commotion.  
"He was lazing about, neglecting his duties; I simply put him in his place!" Zeus' voice began to raise as his temper began to flare, thunder rumbling in the distance as the sky began to darken.  
"He wasn't neglecting his duties! He was recovering after collapsing!" Hera snapped back.  
The gods that had gathered began to murmur amongst themselves, most surprised that Zeus would attack an already weakened god; they had seen Hades at the trial and how exhausted he had seemed to be.  
Zeus snarled wordlessly at them, lightning cracking in the sky above while thunder clapped all around them.  
"Silence all of you! I did what needed to be done. After Hades' uprising we all agreed he was dangerous, unstable, a bad influence on our younger generation. And you Hera my wife, just what gives you the right to question my decisions!?" Zeus demanded, so very close to flying into a blind fury.  
"Since you started making poor ones more than a millennia ago!" Hera venomously snapped back without thinking.  
  
  
That was it, Zeus' limited patience snapped; he let out a wordless primal bellow of fury, lightning and thunder crashing all around.  
The lightning even reached the earth, starting fires, splitting trees and damaging homes. Then at the crescendo of Zeus' rage his lightning struck a small temple on the outskirts of a nearby city, the lightning cracked the ageing stone causing the roof to begin to cave in; the walls soon following as the poorly kept temple collapsed in on it's self.  
  
  
Olympus fell into almost complete silence, the only audible sounds were gasps from a number of the gathered gods, and Zeus' heavy panting as his rage left him.  
"Anyone know who's temple that was?" Ares asked as he and the other gods continued to stare at the rubble of the former temple.  
"I think it was one of Hades'." Athena answered, a little shaken at the fact a god had destroyed a temple of another god; there was an unspoken law that the gods didn't interfere with each others temples unless asked by the god who’s temple it was.  
"Oh... well he's gonna feel that one. I mean it's not like Hades has that many temples dedicated to him." Ares stated nervously.  
All the gods were attuned to their temples and could feel the smallest changes with any of them; it's how Ares could tell when his sons were hanging some new Orpheus mosaic on the wall.  
But to loose a temple was painful, the gods feeling both a physical and mental pain when one of their temples was badly damaged or worse... destroyed.  
  
  
"Zeus... How could you!?" Hera exclaimed horrified, unable to look away from the rubble.  
"I... uh... I didn't mean to... I... ah... it was an accident, I swear." Zeus stumbled over his words as the realization of what he had done sunk in.  
Ares was right, his eldest brother didn't have many temples dedicated to him, and loosing one of his few temples will effect him greatly. Not only will he feel the loss, but Hades' few offerings will decrease even further along with the power mortal worshippers bestow upon the god with their acts of worship.  
  
"I... uh, need to get back to that divine intervention I left halfway through." Zeus lamely excused himself disappearing in whirl of white clouds, the sky clearing quickly after his exit.  
The rest of the gathered gods dispersed, an air of nervousness filling Olympus as they all wondered if the destruction of Hades' temple had indeed been an accident; and if not would Zeus destroy their temples if they were to displease him.  
  


* * *

Hades was completely focused on the paperwork in front of him when he felt it, a sharp burning sensation ripping throughout his entire being; shaking him right to his divine spark.  
As the pain grew Hades could no longer suppress a scream of pain, the sound echoing through the palace startling both mortals and minions alike.  
  
  


"What was that!?" Panic yelped in surprise.  
"I think it was the boss." Replied Pain before both imps ported themselves outside Hades' office. They peaked around the door-frame, checking it was safe to enter before dashing to their master's side.  
  
Hades was bent over his desk, his breath coming it short pants while he gripped his chest with one hand; his heart seeming to be unable to settle into a steady rhythm.  
A few beads of sweat ran down his forehead beading a the tip of his nose before falling on to the desk as Hades desperately tried to retake control of his shaking body, unaware of he two imps at his side trying to gain his attention; growing increasingly anxious the longer their presence went unnoticed for.  
Hades mind was a whirlwind as he tried to figure out what was wrong, why he was in such agony; then finally he suddenly understood.  
  


"Boss, boss can you hear us!?" Panic cried out as he tugged a Hades' clothing trying to gain the god's attention, even at the cost of a smiting.  
"What's happening Big guy? What's wrong!?" Pain yelled out, equally distressed as his turquoise brother; jumping up and down waving his arms in his attempt to gain Hades' attention.  
Then Hades' spoke, the words coming out in a harsh whisper; almost as if the God didn't realize he was speaking.  
"Temple... destroyed..."  
The two imps looked at each other in confusion, trying to understand what the god had meant.  
"What does that mean? Did Hades just destroy someone's temple?" Pain asked Panic who answered just as unsurely.  
"I dunno... maybe he meant that one of his temples had been destroyed..." He trailed off.  
"You know I never really understood why the gods want all those temples in the first place." Pain stated confused.  
"Me neither, maybe it's just a convenient place to collect offerings from; you know get them all in one place instead of having to get them from each mortal's home." Panic suggested, neither imp knowing what power temples could bestow upon their dedicated god.  
  
  
Hades didn't hear a word of the imps conversation, deep in his own mind trying to understand just how one of his temples was destroyed; then a flash of lightning coursed through his body causing him to scream once more.  
That was it, that was what happened; powerful unnatural lightning had struck the temple, and only one god controlled the forces of thunder and lightning.  
Hades mind raced while the world around him seemed to fade even further.  
Was he not working fast enough, was the lightning a sign that his brother planned on replacing him anyway... or did Zeus just want to weaken him further, thereby preventing him from completing his duties giving Zeus justification to replace him.  
Hades panting quickened at these thoughts, his trembling hands beginning to go numb as his clothing steadily grew damper with nervous sweat; sticking to him unpleasantly.  
  
  
He was gasping now, seeming to be unable to get any air into his lungs as the world began to spin.  
A strong wave of nausea crashed over the stricken god causing in to retch and dry heave, blindly grasping for the stone waste bin next to his desk.  
The imps moved quickly to pass the heaving god the bin when it became obvious he couldn't reach it from where he sat, the two falling flat on their face when it was snatched from their hands.  
Hades gripped the bin close and leaning over it just in time as his retching brought up the meagre contents of his stomach, half processed Ambrosia and sour acid burning his throat as he emptied his stomach into the bin.  
  
Once the heaving ceased Hades weakly handed the bin to the two waiting imps, Pain and Panic wrinkling their noses in disgust at the sour smell; the exhausted god paid them no heed as he allowed his head to thunk onto the desk, not having the strength to sit upright any longer.  
Slowly Hades' breathing and heartbeat began to steady, the wave of fear he previously felt dissipating in his exhaustion.  
With his head on his desk Hades allowed his eyes to slip closed, sleep insistently tugging at his conciousness; just as he was about to give in to his body's demand for rest Zeus' words rang through his mind.  
_'Don't think you can't be replaced Hades... I_ **_can_ ** _and I_ **_will_ ** _unless you knuckle down... You can join the Titans in their prison pit...'  
_In a flash he was sitting upright in his chair, the room spinning as his body protested at the sudden movement.  
Swallowing down another wave of nausea Hades set his attention to the parchment-work in front of him, desperately trying to focus on it determined to not allow the other gods to see they were right about how weak he was.  
  
  
"We'll, uh... just go empty this then." Panic stated unsurely as the two imps held the heavy stone bin between them.  
"Um, yeah. Will you be alright on your own boss?" Pain asked as the two imps grew even more anxious when Hades didn't acknowledge their presence.  
They shrugged at each other before carefully carrying the bin from the room, trying their best not to spill any of the contents.  
  


* * *

  
  
Asclepius wandered the streets of the plagued city, something was off about this epidemic; it wasn’t behaving like a normal disease.  
He and the mortals ad divided the city into sections, Asclepius using his divinity to forbid the mortals to travel from one section to another; even the doctors and apothecaries had been split into groups and restricted to their own designated area.  
With none of the mortals daring to disobey a direct order from a god they had hoped to stop the spread of the virus, slowly curing one section at a time; but somehow areas that had been cleared of the virus would suddenly become re-infected, frustrated Asclepius had begun to wander the streets idly allowing his instincts to guide his path.  
He was now in a section that they had managed to prevent any new infections for the last few days.  
The streets were eerily silent, most mortals choosing to remain in their homes unless they had to.  
Sound from an alley to the medicinal god's right drew his attention, he could feel it, he was close to the answers he sought.  
Almost silently Asclepius walked down the dimly lit alley, following the sound of hushed voices speaking in a language he was unfamiliar with.  
Rounding a blind corner Asclepius spotted two mortals dressed in dark brown wool cloaks to hide their identities, one of them carrying an odd looking cylinder.  
"You two what are you doing wandering around, this is no time for idle sight seeing." Asclepius demanded an answer startling the two mortals who had no idea they were being followed.  
The mortals began to tremble when they realized they had been caught by a god and not another mortal, they could handle any mortal with the daggers they had concealed in their cloaks; but they couldn't fight a god.  
"I asked you what you are doing. What's that cylinder you're holding? Give it to me now mortal and I'll let you go." Asclepius gave the two mortals his final ultimatum, he didn’t know what the cylinder was but his instincts were screaming at him to gain possession of it.  
  
The two mortals shared a look, speaking in hushed frantic whispers before suddenly bolting; sprinting down another alley in hopes of loosing the god.  
There was no hope of that, now that Asclepius knew what he was looking for there was no way they would escape him.  
Then the mortal who was carrying the cylinder stumbled, tripping over an uneven stone in the alley road dropping the cylinder as they tried desperately to not fall and be caught.  
The mortal tried to turn and grab the cylinder but the other mortal grabbed them dragging them away, each frantically speaking to the other while one dragged the other away.  
Asclepius couldn't understand their language but got the gist of what was being said.  
The first obviously wanted to gram the dropped cylinder while the other was telling them to forget it and just keep running.  
The medicinal god stopped by the dropped cylinder watching as the two mortals fled down the narrow alley, he had what he wanted and had no need of them; he'd let them go for now.  
  
  
Picking up the cylinder he bean to inspect it, it was black with a strange purple marbling. There were gold coloured markings around it, most likely instructions or some sort of ownership markings.  
Asclepius could feel divine power coming from the cylinder, whatever it was it had obviously been made by a god; a foreign god but still a god.  
Slowly, carefully Asclepius opened the cylinder with a twist, the centre slowly rising on it's own once the cap was released; a purple miasma lazily seeping from within it's core.  
Quickly Asclepius sealed the cylinder once more, instantly understanding how the plague had been spreading.  
A foreign god had sent two of his or her believers to Greece to weaken them in an attempt to increase their own territory of influence, the mortal believers obviously being protected from the virus by divine protection.  
  
  
Asclepius wasn't sure of the identity of the foreign god, nor what region they may hail from; what he did know was now with the epidemic's source cut off the virus would burn its self out; having already seen some mortals developing a resistance to it.  
He de-materialized the cylinder, storing it away where no foolish mortals could mess with it. Nodding to himself the medicinal god decided to go around the sections of the city, intending to inform all the mortal healers that the epidemic would end within a few days and that he intended to return to Olympus once he had informed all of the groups.  
Asclepius couldn't wait to get away from the filth of humanity and cleanse himself with the pure waters of Olympus, and to finally sleep; he refused to sleep in front of the mortals, he was so tired now he could almost hear his bed calling him.  
Asclepius quickened his pace, having every intention of making it back to Olympus before the sun set.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought that I should finally add an angst tag, sorry for tagging it so late. 
> 
> So I'm taking liberties with Hades' birth as I haven't been able to find anything on his birth other than his parent's and being swallowed by his dad Cronus after being born.
> 
> Sorry if Hades seems a little OOC in this chapter, he's not in a good headspace right now.  
> I was kind of slacking this week and then work called me in for an extra shift, so instead of having two days to write this I spent seven and a half hours over one day writing it. Sorry. 😅
> 
> As always enjoy, or not; whatever works for you.

* * *

Pain and Panic were busy filing the parchment-work of processed souls while Hades finished processing the last of the mortals from the epidemic, it had been a few days since Hades had begun processing the souls and hadn't spoken a word to the imps since they forced him to take some Ambrosia.  
His silence made the imps jumpy, the best response they could get out of him whenever they spoke was a grunt.  
  
Now they huddled close together while they worked, speaking to each other in low whispers.  
"It's been five days since he last spoke, it's starting to freak me out." Pain whined quietly to his brother.  
"I know. He doesn't even speak to the mortals, just hands them their processing slip and points to the corridor." Panic agreed anxiously.  
A clatter coming from the direction of their master's desk startled the two imps, they spun around to face the desk only to see the noise was caused by a scroll suddenly appearing on Hades' desk; the Lord of the Underworld not even sparing the scroll a glance as he continued to focus on his work.  
  
Pain crept towards the end of the desk checking the seal on the scroll.  
"It's from Hermes." He stated plainly, Hades grunting in reply as he finished the current mortal's parchment-work.  
"You know I haven't seen him since that day." Panic mused scratching his head.  
"Think something happened?" Pain asked.  
"I dunno, maybe he's just really busy. We're still getting soul processing scrolls from him even though we haven't seen him." Panic reasoned with a shrug.  
"Yeah I suppose that could be it, but... he promised he'd be back to check in on the boss." Pain countered as they looked over to their boss whos hand had frozen momentarily over the newly appeared scroll from Hermes.  
_'It was only a matter of time before he abandoned me like the rest of them. Don't know why I'm surprised.'_ Hades thought before giving himself a shake, grabbing the scroll to check it's contents.  
Once satisfied that the scroll had been filled out correctly he co-signed the scroll tossing it at the imps for filling.  
"Ow!" Pain exclaimed as the scroll hit him in the head.  
Hades grinned as his throw hit it's mark before standing from his desk, slowly walking to the office exit.  
"Uh boss? Where are you going?" Panic nervously asked causing the god to stop in his tracks.  
"For a walk." He answered without looking at the imp.  
"A walk? But there's still souls that need to be processed." Said Pain without thinking, still rubbing his head where the scroll had hit.  
"What gives you two the idea that you have any right to tell me how to run my realm!?" Hades snarled at the imps, face turning bright red with anger.  
"We are sorry! Please forgive us! We are ant's, insignificant ants." The two imps begged for forgiveness, turning themselves into ants during their grovelling.  
Hades huffed in annoyance, too tired to be bothered to smite them and simply stalked from the office without another word.  
"Uh, that was weird." Panic muttered to his brother.  
"Yeah, he didn't even try to step on us." Pain agreed as he and his brother changed back into their normal forms.

* * *

  
Hades wandered aimlessly through his palace, simply wanting a small respite from his office.  
The corridors of the palace were now almost free of souls, the line containing only another fifty or so mortals waiting to be processed; with the odd mortal appearing from time to time having died of other causes.  
_'Is this how the rest of my eternity will be? Forever stuck beneath the earth without even a chance of seeing the stars once more.'_ He thought to himself miserably, while he wasn't fond of the harsh light of the sun Hades enjoyed the gentle light of the stars; they reminded him of his mother Rhea.  
Gods had long memories, and some could even remember their time as infants.  
The earliest memory Hades had was of the night sky.  
  
_He had been born at night under the star filled sky, it had been a new moon so the only light had come from the stars._  
_His mother had cradled him close humming a lullaby while he contently suckled from her breast looking up at her peaceful face and the starry sky above, he hadn't known it then but that would be his only sustenance until he was grown. The memory ceased to be peaceful as dawn broke, his father Cronus finding them and snatching him from his mother's arms; swallowing him whole enshrouding him in darkness._  
  
Hades shuddered bringing himself out of his thoughts to find he was standing in his half destroyed throne room.  
With a sigh he walked over to his throne, slumping down heavily into the stone seat that represented the power of the Underworld's ruler.  
He looked about the half destroyed room, he could spare a little energy to at least tidy up the rubble...  
_'What would be the point, It's not like I'll be entertaining any guests any time soon... if ever.'_ The god thought to himself morosely.  
  
With another sigh Hades stood once more, slowly wandering out of the throne room.  
This time his aimless wandering brought him to a small balcony overlooking his realm.  
The weary Lord of the Underworld leaned heavily on the railing, palms flat on the smooth dark stone as he looked out at his almost lifeless realm; a dull ache beginning in his chest.  
Hades placed a hand to his chest, gripping the front of his clothing in a futile attempt to soothe the ache; instead the ache intensified as Hades came to understand it's origin.

  
  
**...Loneliness...**

Never had Hades felt so alone, so truly isolated as he did now. Sure the other gods had never really liked him, but they had tolerated his company; and he had always had those monthly mixers to look forward to.  
Of course he knew he had Cerberus, the imps and a few other subjects capable of intelligent conversation... but it wasn't the same as being around other deities.  
And despite his family's shunning he couldn't help but crave their company.  
Hades fell to his knees hand still gripping his chest while the other remained on the railing, he rested his forehead on the edge of the balcony railing; trying to fight back tears that had gathered at the corners of his eyes threatening to fall.  
What was the point of living as an immortal god if you were just going to be alone for all of eternity?  
Was this all the fates had planned for him?  
Did they get some sort of kick out of seeing him brought so low?  
  
Hades moved himself into a sitting position, resting his back against the balcony railing and looking up at the black ceiling of the Underworld; trying to imagine stars glowing softly above him.  
_'It's not like I can just stop being a god...'_ He thought to himself darkly.  
Suddenly he sat upright an idea forming in his mind.  
_'... or can I...'_  
Hades hoisted himself to his feet, quickly making his way through the corridors of his palace; a singular destination in mind as he travelled deeper into the depths of his palace.

* * *

  
"He's still not back?" Pain asked as he entered his master's office two bowls of food in his hands.  
"Nope, not yet." Panic replied as he took one of the bowls from his brother's grasp.  
"Must be **some** walk." Pain muttered as he sat down next to Panic and began eating.  
"You don't think he's fallen asleep somewhere right?" He asked with his mouth full, Panic grimacing in disgust at the sight of pain's half chewed food.  
"Maybe, best not to bother him or he'll smite us for sure." Panic replied before shoving more food into his mouth.  
"Guess you're right." Pain agreed giving his food his full attention.  
The two imps ate in silence having filed all of the finished parchment-work away, all they had to do now was wait for either their master to return or for him to call them.

* * *

  
Hades stood in-front of a room he hadn't entered in eighteen years, the doors slid open for him granting access to the small dimly lit room; Six large skeletons acting as columns holding the ceiling up.  
Slowly Hades approached the empty glowing pillar of vapour, he stood in-front of the pillar considering it.  
He placed his hand within the vapour, wincing in pain as it hissed and began to slowly corrode his skin; his natural godly regeneration able to keep up for now.  
Hades closed his eyes focusing his powers into his palm, imagining a familiar empty vial and willing it to materialize.  
  
Hades could feel his strength draining from him and after a few minutes removed his hand from the vapour pillar and opened his eyes panting in exhaustion, a feeling of light headedness causing him to stagger a little.  
But there in the vapour pillar was the familiar vial, it was empty but Hades would change that; it would just take time.  
This vial like the first was special, it had to be made with a strong barrier incorporated into it to withstand **_that_** particular potion; and unlike normal items that Hades could just manifest with little trouble this item took a lot of concentration and energy to create.  
Hades was still panting with the exertion of creating the vial but knew he had to start manifesting the potion now or the vial may become unstable and shatter, even a single drop would do.  
Hades thrust his still tingling hand back into the vapour pillar positioning it just in-front of the vial but not making contact, and once again closed his eyes channelling his powers into his palm; willing the potion to take form within the newly created vial.  
He could sense it, two tiny droplets forming inside the vial before falling to the bottom of it.  
"Gah!" Hades grunted quickly removing his hand from the pillar, his regeneration ability no longer able to keep up with his depleted energy.  
He held his injured hand close to his chest as he willed more energy into it to heal, still panting he observed the vial within the pillar; watching for any signs that it was destabilizing.  
Satisfied that the vial was stable enough with only two drops of the pink potion he left the room, sealing the doors behind him to keep any nosey imps out; afterwards he slowly and shakily made his way back to his office.

* * *

  
"Do those of you who have been hesitant to pick a side finally understand? We must restore balance to our pantheon, I know what I'm asking of you is difficult; I understand that many of you hold no love for my brother. But please, we must help him, if only to restore the balance." Hera addressed a group of gods she had gathered, all of whom had either yet to choose a side or were still siding with Zeus. She didn't hope to gain the alliance of all of them, she only needed a few more to side with her to force a vote.  
"Maybe Hera's right... we did all see Zeus destroy Hades' temple, accident or not." Ares hesitantly agreed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.  
"I don't know... Hades is a conniving, silver tongued opportunist. And I don't think Zeus sealing him away in the Underworld was wrong, and I believe Zeus when he said the destruction of Hades' temple was an accident." Athena stated her view firmly.  
"You try saying that when it's one of your own temples sis." Ares snarked at his sister, sure she was only taking Zeus' side because he was siding with Hera.  
"Zeus would never destroy one of my temples, I'm not a nuisance like a certain God of the Dead. I'm not sorry he's being punished, he's getting what he deserves." Athena replied bitterly, still holding a grudge at Hades for being caught up in a number of his schemes, whether as a target or as a bystander dragged in as collateral damage.  
The goddess of wisdom stalked off refusing to hear any more of Hera's pleas, a few other gods and goddesses following suit.  
Those remaining looked at Hera expectantly.  
"So when are we going to do this" Ares asked Hera as she mentally took count of the remaining deities, internally sighing in relief when she found that enough remained to add to her faction to challenge Zeus; with Hera preoccupied with her headcount Hermes replied on behalf of the goddess.  
"We're planning to confront Zeus during the next monthly meet up, that way everyone will already have an excuse to be together; less suspicious." The small blue messenger god explained, the other gathered gods and goddesses nodding in agreement.  
"Isn't that right M'lady?" Hermes prompted the queen, bringing her out of her thoughts.  
"Oh, yes, that's right. During the monthly mixer." She agreed a little flustered at having being caught not paying attention.  
"Alright then, everyone heard that right? I'll see you all at the next mixer in two weeks time, I've got a battlefield to be on so if you'll all excuse me." Ares stated firmly before whistling, his war dogs appearing in the sky pulling his chariot; landing so the war god could board before taking to the skies once more.  
  
  
The other gods dispersed leaving Hera alone with Hermes.  
"So did we get enough babe?" He asked the goddess.  
"Yes Hermes, but just barely. We now have the support of just under sixty percent of the of the pantheon. Though I wish more of them had sided with us." She replied, still a little worried some of the others may change their mind and side with Zeus after all.  
Hermes nodded in agreement growing nervous, he suddenly cocked his head to one side.  
"Sorry babe but I'm getting beseeched, gotta go." Hermes excused himself before zipping off to whoever was beseeching him, Hera silently waving goodbye; her own worries weighing heavily on her mind.

* * *

  
The days seemed to pass as an endless blur for Hades, sleep eluded him and work however little there was seemed immensely difficult as he was almost incapable of concentrating for more than a few minutes at a time.  
He had no interest in consuming Ambrosia but did so anyway both to appease his imps and to ensure he had enough energy to continue with his plan, he estimated that in a weeks time he should have enough potion manifested to use.

Keeping up the illusion that he was getting better was mentally taxing, and Hades felt sharp pangs of guilt when he snuck off to the room to continue his plan whenever he sent the imps on a break or errand.  
Hopefully the two numb-skulls would have enough sense between them to not sick around and try to become Hecate's minions once he was gone, she'd probably do a heck of a better job than him; of course she'd have to give up on the idea of killing every living mortal, Zeus wouldn't approve of that.  
What was he even thinking?  
Was he so pathetic and worthless that he thought that witch could do a better job than him?  
Then again with how much he'd screwed up over the last eighteen years it wouldn't surprise him if she could.  
The god groaned in frustration, once again finding himself unable to concentrate on the parchment-work in front of him; the words all seeming to blur together as he tried to focus his tired eyes.  
Quickly signing off the parchment-work without double checking it Hades gave the slip of parchment to the waiting soul before tossing the scroll at his minions, not even grinning at the pained sound Pain made when it hit him on the head.  
Once noticing that no more souls were coming before him Hades sighed and walked to the door before addressing the imps.  
"Once you finish filing you boys can take the rest of the afternoon off. there shouldn't be any more new arrivals today." He instructed before leaving, only one destination in mind.  
  
  
He stood in front of the vapour pillar once more, his hand inside it channelling energy into the floating vial that slowly condensed into small pink droplets of potion.  
The vial was over a third full now, and all he needed was for it to be three quarters full to work. But it was taking more energy than Hades had anticipated to rush the potion to completion, when he had made the first one he had done so over the course of a full year.  
He was panting and trembling a little, straining to keep the flow of energy steady and constant; one mistake could ruin the entire vial and he'd have to start all over again.  
_'Just a little more...'_ He thought to himself, determined to create a few more drops; the sooner the potion was complete the better.  
  
Satisfied with his progress Hades reclaimed his slowly corroding hand, once more focusing what remained of his energy into healing it; if the imps saw it they'd know he was secretly working on something during his **_'walks'_**.  
Hades left the room as quickly as he was able to in his weakened state, sealing the doors once more before allowing himself to lean against them; still panting and trembling, his hand still tingling and worryingly two of his fingers felt numb.  
_'Not giving my hand enough time to heal properly... *sigh* I just have to hold out for another week.'_ He thought to himself while he inspected his trembling hand, his numb pinky and ring fingers appearing paler than the rest of his hand.  
"Just one more week." Hades said not realizing he had spoken aloud, too focused on trying to recover enough strength to port himself back to his rooms.

* * *

  
The day of the monthly mixer had finally arrived, the gods all gathered on Olympus a nervous energy in the air.  
By now the only one who didn't now what was about to happen was Zeus, as none of those who supported him and his decisions had wanted to be the bearer of bad news; all worrying about the safety of their temples even if they wouldn't admit it.  
Zeus was late, Hermes had informed the queen about a last minute divine intervention that the Chief god had to attend.  
Hera wasn't mad like she usually would be, instead she was grateful for the chance to gather her supporters and take stock of their numbers.  
A few had changed their minds but instead of joining Zeus' faction had decided to abstain from casting a vote on the issue at hand, so Hera's faction still held the majority.  
The key to her faction's strength was that two of her siblings had sided with her, adding weight and status to her argument.  
She smiled as Poseidon and Hestia approached her, Poseidon resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder while Hestia grabbed her hand; squeezing it tightly in support.  
"Every thing's going to be fine Hera, we'll get through this." Hestia reassured her youngest sister gently.  
"Yeah we got this." Poseidon agreed enthusiastically.  
"Thank you, both of you. Your support means a great deal to me... I just wish Demeter had sided with us." She replied grateful for their support but a little disappointed her other elder sister had refused to join them.  
"Well you know our Demeter, so focused on keeping anything or anyone she deems a bad influence from her daughter." Hestia soothed Hera, refusing to speak unkindly about their sister.  
Hera nodded in agreement, she was sure Demeter would come around in the end; it would just take time, time they didn't have as Zeus appeared in a swirl of white clouds.  
  
  
Hera's faction closed ranks, determined to remain firm in front of the chief god.  
Zeus looked about the cloud hall in confusion, able to physically feel the anxious energy in the room.  
"What's going on? I thought the mixer would be in full swing by now." Spoke Zeus as he looked about the anxious gods and goddesses noticing that the younger gods and goddesses weren't present like they usually were.  
"Looks as if we're missing a few faces this time." Zeus continued nervously as the deities that supported him began to form up behind him.  
  
Hera and her faction approached Zeus the Goddess herself leading them, Hestia and Poseidon on either side of her.  
"Zeus we need to talk." Hera stated firmly as her husband focused his full attention on her.  
"Hera, what's going on?" Zeus asked swallowing nervously as a knot began to form in the pit of his gut.  
  
This was it, this was where they would state their ultimatum, and force a vote if they needed to; Hera just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

* * *

  
Down below in the Underworld throne room Hades was checking the souls incoming manifesto, there was only five today; it would probably be his best chance to get rid of the imps for the day.  
"Pain, Panic." Hades called and the two imps almost instantly appeared before him.

"Pain and Panic reporting for duty." They saluted their master while standing to attention.  
"Fine, fine. Anyway boys there's only five souls due today and I can handle those on my own, so why don't you two take the day off?" He suggested to the surprise of his minions.  
"Wait what!?" Pain exclaimed in confusion.  
"Yeah you don't need to give us the day off, we could help out." Panic said anxiously, something seemed off to him.  
"I said I could handle them on my own. But hey if it makes you two feel better, I'll leave the filing for you to do tomorrow." Hades replied his face growing red as he grew annoyed.  
"Are you sure big guy? Cause we really don't mind sticking around." Pain said, he too had picked up on something being wrong.  
"Are you two really refusing my generous offer of a day off? Do you know how insulting that is? I think it might even be an offence punishable by smiting. Now are you two sure you don't want that day off?" Hades calmly asked once more, however the threat was clearly there; they either took the day off or received whatever painful smiting their master had in store for them.  
"Wh what? of course we weren't refusing your gift, we would love a day off, wouldn't we Pain?" Panic hastily answered trembling at the thought of the possible smiting.  
"Y yeah, thanks boss. Um... we'll just be going then, call if you need us." Pain took the hint and agreed with his brother, the two imps quickly dashing out of the throne room.  
  
  
They didn't go far instead rushing into a nearby room frantically whispering to each other.  
"I don't like this Panic, something’s up."  
"Yeah I know... Hey Hades is leaving the throne room."  
"But that's not the way to his office, where's he going?" Pain asked his brother.  
"I don't know... hey Pain wanna follow him?"  
"I guess so, but if we get caught I'm blaming you." Pain replied receiving a glare from his brother.  
"Heyyyy." He whined at Pain.  
"Shhh, pipe down he'll hear you. C'mon or we'll loose him." Pain shushed his brother before leaving the shadows of the room they were hiding in.  
  
  
Hades slowly made his way down to the familiar room he'd been visiting for the past two weeks, he was so focused on the task at hand that he didn't notice the two imps tailing him.  
He unsealed the door of the room and calmly strode inside leaving the door open this time, believing the imps were far away enjoying their day off by then and not hiding behind the corner watching his every move.  
"Uh Panic, is that what I think it is?" Pain asked his brother as they both spied the vial of pink potion in the pillar in the far end of the room.  
"I think so, but I thought we used it all when we turned Hercules mortal." Panic replied trying to figure out how the potion they had used had suddenly reappeared in the pillar of vapour.  
"I think the boss made it... but why? As long as he's stuck down here there's no gods he could use it on." Pain asked confused as to why their boss would make a seemingly useless potion.  
"Oh no... there's no other gods to use it on but himself!" Panic whispered harshly as his breath began to quicken as he grabbed hold of his brother eyes wide with fear.  
"Wait, you don't think..." Pain trailed off not wanting to say it out loud.  
"It's why he gave us the day off. We have to stop him." Panic concluded.  
"W we can't stop him, he'd smite us for sure." Pain protested shuddering at the thought.  
"Then we have to get someone else to stop him, a god... Hermes!" Suggested Panic wildly as he began to pace, trying to calm his nerves.  
"But how? We can't get out of the Underworld." Pain countered as he began to absent-mindedly gnaw on one of his claws anxiously.  
"So you've already tried porting out of the Underworld then..." Panic trailed off deflating a little.  
"No... have you?" Asked Pain simply.  
"No, I just assumed being Hades' minions Zeus would trap us here too." Panic replied, the realization that neither of them had tried causing hope to bloom inside both imps.  
The gave each other a determined look before concentrating on where they wanted to go... Olympus.  
  
  



	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, this chapter may be a little confusing as it continuously swaps between that characters as everything is happening at the same time in this chapter; so sorry if it get's confusing.
> 
> Now I'm just gonna go crawl under one of those rocks over there to hide from the backlash, bye.
> 
> As always enjoy, or not; whatever works for you.

* * *

  
"Hera what's going on?" Zeus asked nervously, a knot forming in the pit of his gut.  
"What's going on is that we believe enough is enough." Hera stated firmly, only serving to confuse he husband further.  
"I don't understand, what's enough?" He asked, suddenly taking notice of the large group of gods formed up behind Hera; his elder siblings Poseidon and Hestia standing either side of his wife.  
"The way you've been acting lately, isolating Hades, destroying a temple and even attacking your own brother." Hera's words only caused a scowl to appear on Zeus' face, thunder rolling in the distance.  
"You're beginning to act just like father!" Hera continued determinedly,  
Her final statement wiped the scowl from Zeus' face replacing it with a look of surprise.  
"Hera you don't mean that." Zeus exclaimed in shock, it was the worst thing she could ever say to him; that he was like their father Cronus.  
"I'm nothing like that mad titan!" He cried out desperately.  
"Then it's time for you to prove it Zeus. End Hades' isolation, restore balance to our pantheon before we become so divided that the foreign gods begin to challenge our rule of Greece. If you can not do this then you will leave us with not choice but to demand a Vote of Leadership." Hera stated her ultimatum, the gods and goddesses behind her nodding in agreement.  
Zeus gulped nervously, frantically trying to think of a way out of this predicament.  
  


* * *

  
  
With a puff of dark smoke the imps opened their eyes to find themselves standing in front of the gates to Olympus.  
"We did it! We're here!" Exclaimed Pain excitedly.  
"Ngh guh, there doesn't appear to be anyone on gate duty today." Panic stated anxiously as he tried to yank the gates open not even managing to rattle them.  
"Now what? Should we just start yelling for Hermes?" Pain asked as he prodded at what seemed to be thin air.  
"I don't know... what are you doing?" Panic asked as he continued to watch Pain prodding the air between the gate bars.  
"Prodding this barrier, they must've added it it after Hecate's minions kept trying to accompany her into meetings." Pain answered as he finally ceased his prodding.  
"Well now what? We can't just fly over with that barrier in place!" Despaired Panic.  
"Ummm, well with a barrier this large there's bound to be some weak spots; we just gotta find one. C'mon we have to hurry." Pain replied as he began to hover above the Olympus gates, slowly flying sideways as he poked and prodded the invisible barrier keeping them out; trying to find a weak spot they could force their way through.  
  


* * *

  
  
Hades leaned against one of the skeleton pillars panting, his whole body trembling in exhaustion; but it was done, the potion was finally finished.  
The god allowed himself to slowly slide to the floor into a sitting position, he had broken out into a cold sweat as he tried to bring his breathing back under control.  
His left hand had finally stopped tingling but now it felt numb, the skin far paler than it normally was; it was also difficult to move his fingers, but Hades had no extra energy to spend on healing it any further; he wasn't bleeding and that was good enough.  
_'Just need to catch my breath...'_ He thought to himself as the room grew blurry and faded into darkness.  
  


* * *

  
  
The imps were still scrabbling around the invisible barrier surrounding Olympus, it had obviously been designed to only keep Mortals and Minions out or else the gods and the beasts that pulled their chariots wouldn't be able to pass through.  
"Hey Panic! Over here I found a weak spot!" Pain yelled out to his brother who dashed over to his brother in a flash.  
"You did!? Where!? Oh no, not again." Panic cried out as soon as he reached his brother before face palming at what he saw.  
"Hey c'mon Panic, don't just hover there; help a brother out and give me a push." Pain whined as his brother continued to hover next to him but offered no help. The large magenta minion was stuck halfway through the weak spot he had managed to find.  
"Alright alright, keep your wings on." Panic grumbled as he positioned himself behind Pain before beginning to push with all his strength trying to force the his brother's stuck hips through the small gap.  
"Ow! Hey watch where you're putting your claws!" Pain complained loudly.  
"Oh be quiet and suck your gut in would ya!" Panic grouched as he continued to push his brother from behind.  
  


* * *

  
  
"I didn't mean to destroy that temple, it was an accident I..." Zeus tried to defend himself only for Hera to interrupt.  
"You just lost control of your temper. It was the same with father when he found out about the prophecy told by grandmother Gaia, and in his fury he decided to swallow each of his children after they were born. If you are not careful you will become just like him." Hera was calm, her previous anxiety having quickly dispersed once she began speaking; she will **not** let Zeus wriggle his way out of this, not this time.  
  


* * *

  
  
Panic backed away from his stuck brother before flying full force at him, finally pushing him free with a comical popping sound.  
"OW!" Pain yelped out as he landed on the rocky surface just beneath the lowest layer of clouds inside Olympus.  
Panic stuck his head through the hole in the barrier and looked down at his now free brother.  
"You okay?" He inquired as he slipped through the hole just before it closed up again, offering his clawed hand to the other imp.  
"Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for the push." Pain replied as he allowed Panic to haul him to his feet once more.  
"C'mon we gotta find Hermes, and fast." Panic anxiously reminded Pain.  
"Yeah I know. While I was stuck I'm pretty sure I heard some voices coming from over there" Pain pointed a magenta claw in the direction of the Gods meeting hall.  
"Are you sure?" Panic asked cautiously.  
"Uh huh." Pain nodded affirmatively.  
"Ngh, alright let's go; it's better than just standing around here." Panic quickly flew off in the direction of the meeting hall, Pain struggling to keep up.  
  


* * *

  
  
Hades' eyes flickered open, the room gradually coming back into focus.  
Slowly he struggled tiredly to his feet and staggered over to the vapour pillar.  
Inside the pillar was the vial of potion, now a little over three quarters full.  
Hades watched the pink potion as bubbles containing skulls lazily floated to the surface before popping with a hiss.  
It was ready, but was he; did he really want to go through with this?  
Hades felt his heart quicken as he stood before the potion in indecision.  
_'Maybe Hermes will come back, or perhaps another god may convince my brainless brother that their job requires them to have access to the Underworld too... gah, what am I thinking; I burned all those bridges long before the invasion I led... this... this is the only way out.'_ Hades debated within his mind, sighing he closed his eyes and took a deep breath; only opening them once more when he was sure he'd found his resolve.  
Determinedly he reached into the vapour pillar and took hold of the vial, carefully gripping it so as not to drop it he pulled it free of the vapour; his left hand once more corroded by the vapour sluggishly beginning to heal.  
With vial in hand Hades unsteadily made his way out of the room not even bothering to seal the doors this time, it didn't matter now, he'd completed his objective.  
"Not enough energy to port to the throne room, I'll have to walk." He murmured to himself leaning heavily on the wall as he began his trek through the palace to the throne room.  
  


* * *

  
  
"You were right, the gods **are** here!" Panic exclaimed as they came upon the meeting hall.  
"Look there's Hermes!" Pain exclaimed out loud as he spied the small blue messenger god hovering by Queen Hera.  
The two imps made a beeline towards the god who was still oblivious to their presence.  
"HERMEEEESSS!!!" They screeched in unison tackling the surprised Hermes to the cloud floor, clinging to him in desperation; refusing to let him escape their claws.  
  
  
"WOAH AHHH!!" Hermes yelled in surprise as he was tackled to he floor by the two speeding imps.  
"What in Tartarus!? Pain? Panic?" He cried out as he recognized the two imps.  
"Pain and Panic reporting for duty." The two imps said in unison out of habit, before looking sheepish upon realizing what they had done.  
"What are you cats doing here?" He asked the two minions as the rest of the gathered gods began to crowd around the trio.  
  
  
"What's the meaning of this!?" Zeus snapped as he studied his brother's minions clutching tightly to Hermes.  
The imps startled at Zeus' booming voice and quickly ducked behind the blue messenger god, but still refused to let go of him.  
"Zeus honey, we were just talking about this." Hera gently admonished her husband hoping he would understand her meaning.  
"About what?" Zeus asked quizzically.  
_'Of course he doesn't understand'_ Hera internally groaned at her husbands denseness.  
"About your temper. Look you're scaring them." She answered motioning to the two trembling imps still hiding behind the grounded Hermes.  
"Oh... right..." Zeus replied lamely, not sure how to proceed.  
"Now, your names are Pain and Panic correct?" Hera gently asked the two anxious imps hoping to put them at ease.  
"Yes ma'am, I'm Panic." Panic introduced himself, Pain following his lead.  
"And I'm pain, pleasure to make your acquaintance." Both imps released their grasp on Hermes to bow low to the Queen of the Olympians, Hera smiling kindly at them and their introductions.  
  
Hermes took the opportunity to quickly float back up into the sky and away from the sharp claws of the desperate and personal space challenged imps.  
"Look you guys really need to learn to watch the claws. And I really hate being tackled to the ground by you two nutty cats too, so can ya not do it again?" Hermes griped but not unkindly, he didn't want to scare them further or incur the wrath of Hera for upsetting them when she was trying to get them to open up.  
"Sorry." The two imps apologized in unison, hanging their heads low while wringing their tails anxiously.  
"Thank you Hermes, that'll be enough." Said Hera simply before turning her attention back to the two imps.  
"Now I'm sure the two of you know that minions aren't allowed on Mt Olympus." She stated, the two imps nodding furiously in agreement.  
"Well then, there must be a very good reason as to why you felt it necessary to force your way through the anti-minion barrier." She probed the imps gently for an answer, watching as they shared a look; almost appearing as if they were having a silent conversation with each other.  
A few seconds passed before they turned back to face the Goddess, deciding that they could trust her.  
  
"We need help!" The said once again in unison, sharing another look before Panic continued alone.  
"It's Hades, we think he's going to do something really bad."  
"Yeah, the big guy's made another one of **those** potions." Pain continued to the confusion of the gathered gods.  
"HAH! I knew my brother couldn't be trusted! I knew he'd show his true colours soon enough!" Zeus exclaimed victoriously despite the imps furiously shaking their heads.  
Hermes floated down nearer to the imps level, ignoring Zeus' claims of being right to isolate Hades.  
"Wait, what potion? C'mon guys we need details." He asked the two imps as they shifted their attention to him, instead of answering his question they asked one of their own.  
"Why didn't you come back like you promised?" Panic asked with distrust.  
"Yeah. Even though the boss didn't say anything we know it really hurt him when you didn't come back like you promised to." Pain agreed accusingly.  
If the God Queen was going to help them then they didn't need to be nice to Hermes, especially after he broke his promise.  
Hermes backed away from the two imps almost like their words had burnt him, sending a sidelong glare towards Zeus; the glare hidden by his tinted glasses.  
Hera spoke in the messenger god's defence.  
"Hermes was barred from entering the Underworld by my husband Zeus, he found out that Hermes had been in contact with Hades." She explained gently, regaining the imps attention.  
"But that was our fault, we made him help us." Pain replied, Panic nodding furiously in agreement.  
"Y yeah, Hades had collapsed and we didn't know what to do; so we begged Hermes to help." Panic explained looking up at the goddess almost pleadingly. Hera nodded gently at them.  
"Yes I know, Hermes told me what had happened. Unfortunately someone didn't believe us, and thought Hades was just trying to garner sympathy from our kind hearted Hermes." Hera replied sending a stern look towards Zeus, challenging him to just try and make an excuse and see what happens.  
Zeus merely gulped at the dangerous glint in his wife's eyes, saying anything might make her immediately force a leadership vote; best to stay quiet for now.  
Pain and Panic nodded together in understanding, now knowing that Hermes hadn't broken his promise by choice but rather by the inability to make it past Zeus' barrier.  
"Now can you answer Hermes' question? What is this potion that Hades has created?" Asked Hera to the slowly relaxing imps. They shared a nervous look before speaking.  
"Well we're not a hundred percent sure..." Pain started.  
"But we're pretty sure it's the same as the potion Hades ordered us to use eighteen years ago..." Panic continued, both imps sharing another nervous look before blurting out in unison.  
"That turned Hercules mortal when he was a baby. PLEASE DON'T SMTE US!!!" The two imps fell to their knees bowing low, foreheads touching the ground; hands clasped as if in prayer while they begged and pleaded for mercy.  
  
The gathered gods and goddesses gasped in shock, so that was how Hercules had been turned mortal. But how many others could Hades turn mortal, they had to stop him. This what the crowd thought as they broke out into discussion on what to do and how to stop Hades' latest nefarious plot to gain Olympus for his own.  
Hera who had fallen to her knees in surprise took a moment to close her eyes and steady herself having now found out how her baby had been changed mortal, she looked down at the grovelling imps and decided to forgive them; they had only been following the orders of the god they were bound into service to.  
She reached out to the fearful imps and gently pet them on the head, smiling kindly as they looked up in surprise and confusion.  
  
Hera rose to her feet once more and clapped her hands loudly twice to gain the attention of everyone around her.  
"Please quiet down everyone, I believe there is more to this than what we have heard so far. Pain, Panic, will you please continue." She gently prompted the still kneeling and trembling imps; all eyes now on them.  
"Well... at first we were really confused as to why Hades would make **that** potion again..." Began Pain, Panic continuing from where his brother had left off.  
"Y yeah, we're still having a hard time understanding why, I mean there's no other gods down there for him to use it on..." Panic trailed off allowing Pain to continue once more.  
"But himself, it's so unbelievably crazy that an immortal god would want to, to..." Pain couldn't finish the sentence, giving his brother a pleading look of help; knowing that Panic didn't really want to state their combined conclusion either. Panic swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and took pity on his brother.  
"That a god would want to... kill himself..." Panic finished, almost whispering the only reason they could think of as to why Hades would want to turn himself mortal.  
  
The meeting hall went deathly silent, and the imps were sure they could hear their own heartbeats in the void the silence had created.  
The gathered deities looked shocked and confused at the same time.  
Why would a god want to renounce their gift of immortality?  
It didn't make sense, their immortality was one of the defining traits that showed their superiority over the lowly mortals on earth that they ruled over.  
"Oh Hades..." Lamented Hera who was the first to break the silence, a few tears slowly rolling down her cheeks as she tried to fathom why her younger brother would want to do such a thing.  
"But... I don't understand. Why would he want to..." Zeus couldn't finish his sentence, trailing off as the implications began to sink in.  
If Hades goes though with this what would happen to the rest of the Pantheon?  
Were there others who felt the same way as him?  
Would this begin a mass culling of Gods and Goddesses who no longer wished to remain immortal?  
This could destroy their entire Pantheon!  
"This is precisely why I told you that isolating Hades any further was dangerous. It's nothing new that we've hardly made an effort to make Hades feel welcome among us, I too am guilty of shunning him sometimes; I will not deny that. But... this time we have pushed Hades beyond his breaking point, we must learn from this so it doesn't happen again; to any one of our family." Hera addressed the crowd of gods, most of which wore guilty expressions; before she turned to her husband, a determined fire in her eyes.  
"Zeus we **must** stop him, we **must** save Hades."  
"Ngh I don't know, what if that's what he wants us to do? What if he sent his minions up here just to get us to go down to the underworld so he can turn us all mortal?" Zeus was unsure, in his heart he wanted to go to Hades and see if this was true and to stop him, but his head told him to be cautious; that Hades couldn't be trusted and that this could easily be another of his schemes to overthrow him.  
"Zeus, please." Hera implored hands held in front of her as if in prayer.  
Poseidon came to stand beside Hera, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
"Zeus I've said it to you before, I don't want to loose one of my brothers." Adding his voice to Hera's  
Zeus sighed and relented, but refused to ignore the possibility that this was a trap.  
"Very well, but we will only go in a small group; we can't risk the entire pantheon if this is indeed a trap. I need a few volunteers." Ordered the chief god sternly.  
Ares, Athena, Hermes and Asclepius came forward along with Hera and Posiedon. But when Hestia and Demeter tried to come forward as volunteers Zeus stopped them, raising his hand palm flat out towards them.  
"No I need you two to remain here, if this is a trap I need the two of you to lead the others in stopping Hades." He explained to the two determined goddesses who relented knowing that it was a wise move. Zeus knew they were capable, they **had** fought together to bring down the Titans during the ten year war, they'd be able to easily marshal the other Olympians together to fight off Hades.  
"You two are coming as well." Zeus snapped and pointed at the two imps. Better to bring them along than let them carry out any orders on Olympus they may have received from Hades.  
"Everyone ready?" Zeus inquired the small group as they gathered closer to him. It would be easier and faster to bypass the barrier surrounding the Underworld by transporting everyone with his own powers that to remove the barrier, they were in a hurry after all.  
The group disappeared in a swirl of white clouds while the rest of the gods and goddesses wished them luck.  
  


* * *

_  
  
'Finally!' _Hades thought as he slowly staggered into his throne room.  
The trek from the potion room to here had been exhausting and he'd already been so tired.  
He pushed off the wall and moved to stand in the middle of the half destroyed room, looking around at his home one final time.  
He felt guilty at just abandoning his home, his minions, his dog and his duties; but... he just couldn't take being alone any more, he'd been alone for far too many centuries now, it was time.  
Slowly Hades walked to the top of the stairwell that would lead him to the vortex of souls, once mortal it would literally drain the life from him.  
His heart beat anxiously as he considered the stairs, he hadn't been to the vortex since Hercules had punched him into it's swirling mass of souls.  
He leaned against the archway his grip tightening on the vial in his hand, suddenly a familiar sound came from the room behind him; Hades spun around to see if his fears were true or if he was hearing things.  
"No, no no no no..." Hades began to tremble despite himself, his heart beginning to quicken and his breaths shortening. He didn't even notice the other gods and his imps standing there, no, his focus was solely on one God. Zeus.  
  
  
The group had appeared in the half destroyed throne room of the Underworld alert for any signs of a trap as the swirl of clouds dispersed.  
"He's over there." Athena pointed out the trembling Lord of the Underworld who’s gaze was fixed solely upon Zeus.  
"Hades!" Zeus called out taking a step closer to his brother.  
That single step was all it took to break Hades from his state of frozen panic and in a fit of fear he dashed down the steps, stumbling occasionally but not falling.  
"Hades wait!" Hera desperately called out to her fleeing brother.  
"He must be up to something." Athena stated accusingly. "Someone innocent wouldn't just run like that." She reasoned adding fuel to Zeus' paranoia.  
"Yes I agree, let's go after him." Agreed the chief god.  
"Are you sure it's not because he's scared of you Zeus!? Did you forget what you did to him last time you were here!?" Hera snapped at her husband and his eagerness to condemn Hades without knowing all the facts.  
Zeus chose to ignore his wife's sharp words and instead dashed off after Hades, Athena close behind. Hera growled in frustration before She and her group followed quickly behind.  
  


* * *

  
  
Hades paused at the foot of the stairs leaning heavily on the wall desperately trying to catch his breath. He turned to look over his shoulder as he could hear the heavy footfalls of his brother, his breath seemed to only quicken in terror as he stumbled to the cliff hanging over the vortex stopping at it's edge.  
He watched the swirling souls below him, memories of his entrapment causing his resolve to falter momentarily.  
Hades carefully removed the cap from the vial and was slowly lifting it to his lips when a sudden cry came from behind him, stopping his motion instantly.  
  
"HADES NO!!!" Hera cried out in desperation, her voice wavering.  
_'Hera?'_ He thought to himself as he slowly turned to face the small group gathered just inside the room, Ares and Poseidon physically barring Zeus' way preventing the other from launching himself at Hades. Asclepius had stopped Athena with a simple firm hand on her shoulder, the goddess having quickly understood that the situation was not what she had thought.  
_'I is... she crying?'_ Hades thought to himself, confused as to why Hera or any of the others were there in the first place.  
Then he saw them, his two imps hiding behind Hermes; their heads poking out from behind the messenger god.  
_'Of course, I should'_ _v_ _e known they'd even screw this up. If anyone could screw up having a day off it'd be those two.'_ Hades internally groused.  
  
  
Asclepius leaned forward to whisper urgently to both Hera and Zeus.  
"If I may point out Hades is in a delicate state of mind right now, and any added stress placed on him could very well lead to him carrying out his suicide attempt."  
Zeus turned to look at the medicinal god, he wasn't sure of everything the younger god had said; but it didn't sound good.  
"So what do you suggest? That we just stand here!?" He snapped irritably.  
"Zeus, Asclepius is just trying to help. Perhaps you apologising to your brother might help." Hera snapped at her husband.  
"It might, but what isn't helping is you two arguing." Asclepius replied coolly, refusing to back down despite the glares he received from both deities.  
"Grah, Oh fine, I'll do it." Zeus snapped folding his arms and sulking a little.  
  
"Hades" Zeus called out to his brother, a pang of guilt stabbing him at the way Hades flinched and took a step back in fear.  
"Look Hades. I'm sorry for all this, now would you just come over here and give us that vial?" Zeus ground out slightly annoyed at having to apologise, holding his hand out for the vial; expecting Hades to simply stroll over with his usual smirk at having won and forced Zeus into apologising to him.  
Instead Hades shook his head and held the vial closer to himself, taking another half step backwards towards the edge of the cliff.  
"Hades please, don't do this." Hera pleaded sincerely "Come back to Olympus with us, we'll all sit down and talk through this together as a family." She continued, reaching out a hand towards her younger brother; eyes pleading him to take her hand and go with them.  
Hades stood silently looking at Hera's outstretched hand. Unlike Zeus who had only offered his hand in exchange for the vial of potion he held, Hera extended her had with no demands or expectations; she truly just wanted to help him.  
_'She says they want to help, but how long will that last for? A week, a month, a year?'_ Hades' mind was racing, hope and doubt fighting for dominance; his long memory striking the final blow. So many centuries of being alone, of being shunned.  
"No." He spoke in a whisper, having not meant to speak aloud at all.  
"Hades..." Hera began only to be interrupted by Zeus.  
"NO!? What the Tartarus do you want Hades!? A written invitation? Or perhaps you just want me to serve you all of Greece on a silver platter with Olympus on the side?" He demanded angrily, unable to approach his brother as Ares and Poseidon were once again blocking his path; both desperately trying to get him to calm down.  
"I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE ANYMORE!!!" Hades yelled at the top of his lungs, and before anyone could say anything else he swallowed the contents of the vial in a single gulp; stepping off from the cliff allowing himself to fall backwards into the swirling vortex below.  
  
  
Hermes used the two imps hiding behind him like a pair of springboards, pushing off from them to gain an extra burst of speed flying off into the vortex after the rapidly sinking Hades.  
_'Fates, babes. Please just let me make it in time.'_ He silently prayed to the three sisters who controlled all their fates be it mortal or god.  
  
_'Just let me make it in time.'_


End file.
